Baby of Mine
by tvfan69
Summary: Karai never knew her mother, therefor she never put much thought into becoming one. But this child isn't her's, not technically, not really. She never really looked back at what she did that night as a big deal, but she never thought it could come back to haunt her like this. (Rewrite of one of my old stories)
1. Familiar Faces

They had to be kidding.

She had been home for two weeks, they had broken her out of Shredder's lair just two weeks ago and things were only now starting to feel like some semblance of a normal life. So of course it was now that Karai's world decided to achieve a whole new level of complicated.

They had come to a supposedly abandoned warehouse tonight because it was recently purchased by TCRI, a.k.a. the Kraang. Sure enough the aliens were there and were experimenting with a machine, something that was supposed to isolate a strand of DNA in mutants and remove everything else, in simple terms it was a lazar with the effects of retro mutagen. The turtles and Karai were watching from the ceiling rafters of the building, debating whether or not to even stop their foes.

"Leo if this thing works it could turn anybody whose been mutated back to normal" Donnie said, he was more amazed than anybody by the machine.

"And it could turn us human!" Mikey speculated

"But why do the Kraang even have it? Why would they want to undo their own experiments?" Raph questioned

"Probably because every time they screw up they end up with another mutant who wants nothing more than to rip them to pieces. This way they can keep using the same test subject over and over again until they get the results they want." Karai theorized and Raph turned to Leo.

"What do you think fearless? Should we leave the thing intact?" He questioned their leader who hadn't peeled his eyes from the scene below where two Kraangdriods were pushing a rather large and loud object with a sheet over it into the center of the room.

"Let's see what happens," he answered; the object was most likely a cage containing a frightened mutant, because the noise was multiple screams of bloody murder.

Not even a minute later one of the robots removed the sheet to reveal that the object was in fact a cage and inside was none other than Justin.

"It's Justin!" Mikey exclaimed and Karai looked over at him, amused.

"Justin? That's what you called it?" She questioned, she knew all about Mikey's obsession with naming mutants even before she returned home, but Justin?

"You try thinking of a name for a giant octo-monster" The youngest turtle defended but Karai only rolled her eyes.

"Would you two be quiet!" Donnie snapped at his siblings in a loud whisper

"Why don't you?" Karai shot back considering Donnie was being louder than either her or Mikey.

"All three of you should can it!" Raph interrupted and before he could be argued with he pointed a Sai down at the scene below.

The three bickering siblings followed it with their eyes and saw that the Kraang were taking aim on Justin, announcing that they were isolating his human DNA in order to use him as a spy. Then they fired.

The monster screamed, he screamed as though his body were on fire. The machine caused a blinding light but when it was over Justin was still screaming, but he didn't sound like a monster. The screams had turned to high-pitched wails, and the five spies on the rafters looked at the cage to find it not containing a monster, but a human baby.

"Well he was only created a year ago" Donnie reasoned.

"What happened?" One of the Kraang below demanded of the one who had fired the machine.

"Kraang is unaware of what caused the one known as the mutant to turn into what is known as an infant" the robot defended himself.

"Are they seriously that stupid?" Raph asked, sure he was confused at first too but after a second of thought it made perfect sense.

"Kraang must now dispose of the one known as the child" one of the robots decided.

"That's our cue" Leo said and with that the five of them leapt down from their hiding place and the fight began.

A three on five fight against the Kraang was a cakewalk and over in thirty seconds flat, though the machine was destroyed in the crossfire, which left both Mikey and Donnie upset.

"It's not fair! We could've been human." The orange-banded turtle pouted after the fight.

"Mikey I think we have bigger problems" Karai said to him, cocking her head over at the cage which still held baby Justin.

The five of them approached the cage cautiously and Donnie opened it, but aside from that they did nothing. The little boy was sitting and wailing like a siren, completely unaware of the four mutants and one human girl staring at him.

"Uh he needs some clothes" Raph finally commented

"Yeah cause he's gonna let one of us get close enough put clothes on him" Karai shot back at her brother.

"Oh, I think there's a blanket in the Shellraiser!" Mikey exclaimed before hurrying out of the warehouse.

While he was gone the remaining four continued to just stare at the baby, silently wondering which one was going to be brave enough and approach it. Soon Justin appeared to notice that the Kraang were gone and, though he was still sobbing, noticed the four teenagers starring at him.

"A…mmmmm….mm….ma…ma" he appeared to be trying to stutter something through his tears, though not very successfully.

"It sounds like he's trying to say mama" Leo commented just as Mikey returned with a small, white blanket.

"To bad he doesn't have one" Karai muttered but Mikey looked at her confused.

"What about you?" He suggested and everyone's eyes fell on him. "Well you did create him, doesn't that make you his mom?" The youngest continued and now the stares turned to Karai.

For a moment she considered the idea, but then her face hardened again.

"I'm not his mother Mikey" she insisted

"But we do need to get out of here" Leo said, placing a hand on Karai's shoulder from where he stood behind her. "So if Justin will let you get near him, then go," he instructed her, though she could tell he would let her refuse. But she snatched the blanket from Mikey and with a deep breath entered the cage.

She approached him cautiously, having absolutely no experience with children Karai was depending on absolute instinct here.

"Hey" she said in a whisper as she drew closer, "hey it's alright" she said gently, now getting to her knees in front of Justin. He was still crying so she reached out and gently placed the blanket around his shoulders, he noticed this and quieted his tears to look at her. "See?" Karai asked with a sweet smile. "Everything's ok" she assured him.

As he calmed Karai took the opportunity to wrap him tighter in the blanket and when she was done, though Justin was still whimpering, she lifted him into her arms and turned back to the guys. They were starring at her almost in shock, as if not even one of them had an ounce of faith in her being gentle towards the child.

"Let's get going," she said, ignoring their stares.

* * *

By the time they reached the lair Justin was nearly asleep, but he was still awake enough to start crying when Karai tried handing him over to Donnie so he could run some tests.

"I'll come with him," Karai conceded, following Donnie into his lab with Justin still in her arms.

She closed the door behind her before noticing Donnie rummaging through a box underneath his desk.

"I keep some diapers around here somewhere, they make great temporary patches when there's a leak in the pipes" he explained and Karai couldn't help but smirk, leave it to Donnie to have accidently prepared for something like this. "Found one," he said triumphantly, pulling out a diaper with the image of Elmo on it. He flung it like a Frisbee to Karai who caught it with her free hand.

While Donne was setting up whatever he needed for his tests, Karai tried to put the diaper on Justin. However this was not an easy task as Justin tightened his grip around her neck when she tried to lay him down on a chair.

"Come on Justin" Karai groaned while trying to unlock the little boy's arms. Eventually she did get him to let go, and only when he realized that she wasn't leaving him did he stop fussing.

Once she had the diaper secured Karai wrapped Justin in the blanket again and lifted him back into her arms before turning to Donnie who was preparing a needle for a blood sample. The only thoughts presently running through the Kunoichi's head were ones focusing on how much she hated her little brother right now. But she sat down without protest and held Justin in her lap as Donnie took his arm.

"Well he's letting me touch him" the turtle said, somewhat proud of his small victory.

"Take his blood and that won't last" Karai commented but Donnie continued on.

He wiped some alcohol onto the baby's arm before administering the small needle and drawing a small amount of blood, trying to ignore how loudly the boy was now crying.

Donnie gave Justin a Band-Aid and began analyzing the sample while Karai paced around the lab, gently rocking the screaming baby in her arms in order to calm him down. Eventually he quieted and settled with his head on her shoulder, though Karai couldn't tell if he was awake or not.

"Ok so for a human child of his age of about one year and six months, he's perfectly fine." Donnie announced

"So the Kraang's machine worked?" Karai asked skeptically but Donnie nodded.

"I don't see any problems, the only thing is that most children know how to walk by this age but considering he probably doesn't even remember anything about having been a mutant I think you're going to have to teach him that one, and I would do it soon if I were you." The genius turtle explained but his explanation earned him a glare from his older sister.

"What do you mean me? We've been through this, I'm not his mother." She insisted but Donnie didn't look convinced.

"So what do you suppose we do with him them? Leave him in an alley?" He questioned rhetorically.

"I don't know, what are you asking me for? Leo's the leader, if anything it's his call!" Karai exclaimed and so with a roll of his eyes Donnie turned his attention back to his computer and began scanning through Justin's DNA, what he saw shocked him.

"It can't…" Donnie said in awe as he looked through the baby's DNA patterns.

"Is something wrong?" Karai asked, her previously denial filled voice now nothing but concern.

"I've, I've seen some of these patterns before" Donnie declared, opening another file on his computer. Ever since they discovered April was part Kraang he began keeping a file on the DNA of everyone they knew in case anything were to ever happen.

"What? That's impossible, isn't all DNA different?" Karai questioned while Donnie looked over at her and fixed his eyes on Justin.

He noticed that the boy had dark black hair just like Karai, but at his angle he couldn't see the baby's face and was trying to remember if he had Karai's Asian features; he didn't think he did. Then he remembered where Justin's DNA came from in the first place, the worldwide genome project, where April's school sent their DNA samples. Then, on a hunch, he opened a third file; and his theory was confirmed.

He turned in his seat with a sheepish grin as he faced his sister, suddenly thankful the baby wouldn't allow her to put him down because that prevented her from using her hands to wring his neck.

"Uh Karai, do you remember standing on top of the mutagen vat the night Justin was created?" He asked and she nodded

"Why?" She asked him

"Well, you see some of the patterns I recognized were ones I've seen before, in your DNA." He told her and she just stared blankly at him, she understood but she didn't want to. "I think a piece of your hair must have fallen into the mutagen" Donnie continued to theorize but when she still didn't speak he continued. "Some of the patterns I recognized however, weren't yours" he confessed and that got her to say something.

"Then who's-" she started but she was abruptly cut off by the sound of Casey shouting through the lair.

"Yo Leo! Why did you need me to bring over some of my old baby clothes?" His voice asked, clearly confused by Leo's odd request.

Karai saw Donnie's face pale and her own eyes grew wide as she whipped around and looked at the closed lab door, then turned back to Donnie with a questioning look of disbelief and in response he gave a barely detectable nod.

Justin's human DNA, his only remaining DNA, had come from two people, Karai and Casey.


	2. DNA

Donnie was about to say something when Casey opened the door and stepped into the lair.

"I know, I know, don't come in when the door is closed. But Leo told me to" He immediately defended before anything could even be said. Somehow he completely missed that both Donnie and Karai were staring at him nervously.

"It's fine Casey" Donnie finally stammered, again Casey took no notice of his odd behavior.

Instead he approached Karai from behind, bending down slightly in order to see Justin's face as the little boy slept with his head on Karai's shoulder.

"Whose kid is it anyway?" He asked, unaware that it was probably the worst question he could've asked.

He straightened up and Karai turned around, "we rescued him from the Kraang" she answered and Casey's smile disappeared.

"So you don't know?" He asked but he knew the answer, or he thought he did.

"Oh no we know" Donnie replied and Karai turned to glare at him

"Ok… so why didn't you return him?" The hockey player asked, finally seeming to catch onto the awkwardness in the room.

That was when Justin stirred just the tinniest bit and Karai snapped her attention to the wadded up piece of fabric in Casey's hand.

"Um can I barrow that?" She asked and Casey looked down at his hand before remembering the whole reason he had come in here to begin with.

"Oh yeah, here" he said, handing her the old, worn out pajama's.

She took them in her free hand with a small thank you before turning her attention to Donnie.

"I'm going to get him dressed" she informed her brother who frowned at her.

"You can do that in here while you're explaining" he snapped at her, knowing she was trying to stick him with explaining to Casey who Justin belonged to.

"And you can explain all this to either just him, or everyone else including Mikey" she bargained, she and Casey have barely ever said more than two words to each other so no way was she going to be the one explaining this to him.

"Fine" He agreed and with a smirk Karai took Justin and left the lab.

* * *

"So Donnie find anything?" Leo asked from his seat on the couch when his sister emerged from the lab, still holding Justin and now also clutching the worn out pajama's Casey had brought over.

All three of the remaining turtle brothers were sitting on the couch, the TV on commercial, but none of them were paying it any attention. With a breath to calm herself Karai placed Justin on a vacant section of the couch in order to dress him, thankful that he was much more willing this time.

"He found out where Justin's DNA came from" she announced, she was focusing on the squirming baby she was trying to dress but she could feel her brother's shocked expressions.

"Well duh, the Kraang" Mikey said, ok so just Leo and Raph were surprised.

"She means his human DNA genius" Raph scolded just as Karai finished with Justin

"You mean like he does have a mom? Other than you?" Mikey questioned as Karai turned to face them, Justin for once content to just lay there behind her.

"I-" she started but the words died on her lips, she wanted to say that she's not his mother, but she couldn't. But at the same time she couldn't say the words that she is, she didn't know what she thought of this little boy lying on the couch behind her, all she knew was that she couldn't admit that from the moment she picked him up in the cage she had felt this loving feeling inside of her.

"Karai?" Leo asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"A piece of my hair, an eyelash, we don't know what but something containing my DNA fell off of me and into the mutagen that night. Half Justin's human DNA came from me." She finally admitted and if the boy's eyes weren't wide before they were now.

"Wait half? So where did the other half come from?" Raph questioned

"The samples that were mixed in, the human one came from Casey" She admitted and the room was dead quiet. The only sound that was to be heard came from Justin who was lying on the couch grunting.

"Uh, is this grounds for me to kill him?" Raph finally broke the silence but before anything else could be said the lab door opened and out walked Casey, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

When Donnie pulled his head back into the lab the other three took the hint and headed for the dojo, but not before Karai pulled Leo aside.

"Take Justin," she ordered him, he looked at her confused but her expression told him not to argue so he picked up the little boy and continued towards the dojo, trying to calm Justin once he started crying.

Casey made his way towards Karai slowly, suddenly his legs felt like they were made of jelly and he had to force them to move. The look in her eyes was one of fear, fear of what he was going to say. Despite his slow pace he found himself in front of her all too soon but when he opened his mouth to say something she cut him off.

"You can forget everything Donnie said, I can deal with Justin alone if you want," she said and he looked at her in complete shock.

"Wait you seriously think I'm going to do that? Look I know neither of us volunteered for this and it's neither of our faults, but no way am I walking away" he assured her and a part of Karai was happy to hear that. But a part of her wished he would walk away.

She had spent her whole life alone, she had spent her whole life taking care of herself and solving her own problems. Not that she considered Justin a problem but all the same she had never expected anyone to help her with anything, she always succeeded or failed on her own.

"Look it's getting late and clearly I've got a lot to explain to my dad. Just keep him here for tonight, I'll come back tomorrow and we can figure this all out." He promised but inwardly Karai panicked, his father. She thought this was going to be hard to explain to her own father but Casey's doesn't know about the turtles or her or anything, what was he going to say?

Casey seemed to see her panic and smirked, "relax, I'm not going to tell him about the guys. But if I'm going to be bringing a kid around the house at some point then I have to tell him that much" he said

"But won't he be mad?" Karai questioned, knowing full well that if the circumstances here were what Casey was going to tell his father then Splinter would be furious with her.

"Oh yeah he'll skin me alive, but better him then four trained ninja's." He laughed but Karai wasn't convinced.

"What if, what if we gave him up?" She suggested and Casey's smile fell

"What? Look I get that you've had more time to think this over than I have but are you serious? Karai look how well being adopted turned out for you" he said and with that her eyes narrowed.

"Adopted? More like kidnapped!" She exclaimed; she couldn't believe that Casey would stoop so low, be so desperate, as to bring her past into this, especially when he clearly knew nothing about it.

"Ok, ok I'm sorry" Casey said, holding up his hands in surrender. "You really want to give him up?" He asked and she opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. "Look no matter what ends up happening I've gotta tell my dad, I'll see you tomorrow" he continued and with that the hockey player left and Karai finally registered the sound of crying coming from the dojo and began making her way towards it, all the while wondering what she was going to do.

* * *

 **Author's note: Hey guys so i know this chapter was rely short but i promise it's the only one. The other's are all going to be much longer! Please tell me what you guys think of the story, the reviews really mean the world to me! Thank you so much!**


	3. What should be Done?

Walking down the sidewalk that night it would've been an understatement to say that Casey had a lot on his mind. In just fifteen minutes, tops, his entire world had changed. He has a son. He was going to have to lie to his dad about how it happened which was defiantly putting Karai in an uncomfortable position but he figures she's probably never going to be in the same room as his dad so they can both live with it. But worse than that is she wants to give Justin up. Casey's never had experience with kids beyond his sister-

Oh crap, his sister.

How is he supposed to explain this to Angel? She's only nine, she doesn't really know about this kind of stuff yet. Sure she has an idea, but something like the lie he's going to be forced to tell is still a little mature for her to understand. He had the whole story worked out; it was one night and he didn't know about Justin until now, simple as that. But his sister won't understand that, she thinks you have to be in love in order to have a kid.

"Whatever, Angel's the least of my problems" Casey muttered to himself. Throughout his whole walk home Karai never left his thoughts.

He doesn't know her very well; she's only been home about two weeks. But she usually laughs when he cracks a joke and they get along when they're together. One thing he does know about her is she survived sixteen years of hell with Shredder. His stomach knotted up with guilt at the thought, it had been so stupid of him to bring up Shredder in their argument. But he was just so desperate, desperate to get her to consider keep their son. She's normally so strong, so fearless, but tonight she looked so scared. Maybe it was the knowledge that Justin belongs to both of them, but Casey was fighting the urge to pull Karai into his arms and hold her tight during their entire conversation. The only reason he didn't was because he knows that it was just the situation doing that to him, he doesn't really have feelings for her.

Suddenly Casey was pulled out of his thoughts when he found himself standing in front of the main entrance to his apartment complex.

"Well it's now or never," he told himself with a sigh.

* * *

"So how are you making out?" Raph sarcastically asked his sister. After she finally managed to calm Justin and they explained to Splinter what had happened and that Casey was coming back in the morning he told Karai that she had a decision to make, after that she, Raph, and Leo had gone to the living room to watch a movie and of course she took Justin with her.

At first it had been fine with Justin sitting quietly on her lap nodding off, Donnie explained that they shouldn't be worried that he had done more sleeping than anything since they brought him home because he was probably just worn out from the day. But halfway through the movie Leo left and at some point Karai claimed his spot with her legs and Justin ended up lying on her stomach with his on her chest.

"I can't breathe," she answered with a groan

"What do you mean you can't breathe?" Raph asked in amusement

"I mean he's crushing my lungs but last time I tried to get up he woke up and started crying" she complained and Raph chuckled before taking pity on his sister and moving from his seat to stand over her.

Without saying a word he slipped his hands under Justin's armpits and swiftly but gently lifted him up. Once Justin was off her and she could feel the air reentering her lungs Karai sat up and looked over at Raph who had reclaimed his seat on the couch and had Justin asleep in his lap.

"How did you manage not to wake him?" She questioned and her brother smirked at her.

"Spike used to fall asleep on me like that all the time, the key is to be fast but gentle at the same time." He advised and Karai blinked

"Spike?" She asked

"My pet turtle, until he was mutated and left. He goes by Slash now" Raph explained and Karai really had no idea what to say to that. "So how do you think it's going for Casey?" Raph continued, gladly changing the subject. Karai let out a sigh as she ran a hand over her face.

"I don't know why he's even telling his dad, if we end up giving Justin up then he'll have taken a beating for nothing" she said and Raph frowned but didn't say anything, in truth he thought it best that they give up Justin but he expected to have to voice that opinion in the manner of slapping some sense into his siblings. The fact that Karai was also in favor of it just didn't sit right with him.

* * *

Meanwhile Casey's night wasn't going so great. His dad didn't ask much of him and his sister; he asked that they stay in school and do their best. He asked that they call if they think they'll be getting home later than curfew, which for Casey is midnight. Finally he asked that they stay out of trouble, so when Casey came home and asked his dad if he could talk to him in private he knew how disappointed his father was going to be. The man asked so little of him and Angel, and now he was going to have to pretend that he had broken one of the very few rules that the man has.

Stay out of trouble.

One would think that being a vigilante would be the factor to break that rule but honestly if his father knew Casey doubted that he would care, but saying he has a kid, yeah that breaks the rule.

"So what's this about Casey?" His dad asked after he asked Angel to go to her room, Casey sighed and sunk down into the worn out couch cushion.

"I met this girl, about two years ago. We went out for a little while and… then she just left." He began his lie, "I ran into her today and she had someone with her, a little kid. He's about a year and a half old. I asked and, she told me. She told me he was mine." He said shamefully, hoping he was doing decent job at lying. Looking up at his father he knew the man was convinced, the look of complete and utter disappointment on his face said it all.

"So what are you gonna do?" The older man challenged his son, his voice much too calm for Casey's liking.

"Dad I don't know! But I need to figure it out because we talked for a couple minutes and she said that she doesn't think she can do it anymore, she says she's gonna give him up!" He exclaimed, "Dad please, I'm meeting her tomorrow but I don't know how to talk her out of it!" He was begging now, begging for his father's advice because if ANYONE knew how to talk a woman out of giving up a baby it was Mr. Jones.

"Shit Casey" his father muttered after a minute of saying nothing, "Shit Casey since the day you were born I've been telling you not to let yourself end up like me and your mother!" He shouted and Casey so badly wanted to argue, but he knew better. He knows that when his father gets angry he says stuff he doesn't mean and the best option is to just sit there and take it, sit and wait out the storm. "What is wrong with you?!" His father demanded and just like always the question wasn't rhetorical, he wanted an answer. But just like always Casey couldn't think of one to give. "Is that brain of yours even hooked up right?" He demanded and at this point Casey stood up.

"No it's not! We've been through that, my brain's not hooked up right!" He shouted back and his father lowered his anger level for a minute, realizing he had gone into a topic too sensitive. "But that doesn't mean I don't know right from wrong. Dad please, you convinced mom not to give me up, so please, help me." He begged and his father looked at him with sympathy for a moment.

"Are you doing this out of pity?" He asked and Casey's eyes widened at the thought.

"What? No! Look, I know her and me aren't like you and mom. You guys were together; her and me were just a one-time thing. I don't really know how I feel about her; she's a friend for sure. But I love my son." He admitted, the words felt strange on his lips, but he meant them.

His father then walked over and clasped a hand to his shoulder. "Then tell her that you're going to be in his life and if she really can't do it anymore, tell her to give him to you."

* * *

She couldn't take it anymore. She had no idea how many hours she had passed staring at her ceiling but she did know that she couldn't take it anymore. A part of her almost wished that Justin would wake up. He was sleeping with her in her bed and he was sleeping soundly. If he were to wake up then sure all she'd do would be try and get him back to sleep but at least it would distract her for a few minutes. She had spent the past at least three hours contemplating what to do with him long term. Casey seems to think it's a good idea to keep him around but he isn't thinking of the dangers. If the two of them are supposed to be Justin's parents then they have to think rationally, and rationally speaking giving him up makes the most sense. They're only seventeen, and sure in today's world it's nowhere near unheard of to have a child at a young age, but it's not exactly looked up upon. Not that a social reputation is what Karai's worried about, she doesn't have one. But in addition to being young they also throw themselves in harms way on a daily basis fighting the Kraang and the Foot Clan, and the Foot Clan is another problem. It's bad enough that Shredder's out for her and the turtles and Splinter, but if he were to ever get his hands on Justin.

As the thought sent a chill down her spine Karai decided that Justin would be fine if she got up for a little while, so she walked out of her room and down the hall to the living room, she didn't expect to find Leo in there.

The oldest turtle was sitting on the couch flipping through channels when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Karai entering the living room. It was a strange sight to see her in her pajamas, as she often changed right before bed and got dressed before coming out in the morning. She had gotten some clothes and pajamas from April's cousin who was leaving for college and getting rid of a bunch of clothes before moving; she didn't ask any questions about April's friend needing clothes and just gave the two girls a trash bag full of stuff to sort through. The clothes were a lot closer to Karai's style than any of April's would've been, that being said Leo still couldn't help but snicker at his sister's Batman pajama bottoms.

"Can't sleep?" He asked when she jumped down into the seat next to him on the couch.

"Justin's keeping me up, what about you?" She asked, briefly pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Just one of those nights, um I don't want to tell you how to raise your son but if he's crying are you sure-" Leo asked but Karai cut him off.

"He's not crying," she said and abruptly he shut his mouth. "I just don't know what to do with him," she admitted and Leo sighed.

"Raph said you were thinking about giving him up," he said and she nodded. "Karai I know you weren't prepared for this, none of us were. But you're not alone. Casey's going to stay and even if he doesn't the rest of us are here-" Leo tried to convince her but again she cut him off.

"It's not that Leo," she said, her eyes watching whatever was on the TV but her mind fully invested in the conversation.

"Then what is it?" He asked and she sighed

"Look I don't know much about parenting, I didn't exactly have the best example growing up. But I do know that you're supposed to do right by your kid" she explained but Leo still didn't understand.

"So you think giving up Justin is doing right by him?" He asked and Karai let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a sigh and a growl.

"Well keeping him sure isn't," she said

"Why not?" Leo asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you seriously have to ask that?" She nearly laughed but when her brother continued to do nothing but stare at her she couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose again. "You really are stupid," she muttered before inhaling deeply and turning fully to face him. "Fine, yes I think giving him up is right because if he stays with us it's only a matter of time before Shredder finds him and uses him against us" she admitted.

It was quiet for a minute, Leo thinking of something that he could say and Karai trying to decide if she wanted him to reassure her in her decision or talk her out of it.

"Karai, what were your plans for when you grow up?" He finally asked and the question caught Karai way off guard.

"Um I don't know; I pretty much grew up two years ago." She told him and it was true, as a child her only aspiration was to be her fa-Shredder's second in command, by fourteen she had achieved that goal.

"What about ten years from now?" Leo asked and Karai shrugged

"I don't know. I always thought I'd take over the Foot Clan when Shredder either stepped down or died, but in light of recent events I abandoned that dream and I haven't put much thought into a new one. Why?" She asked

"Did you ever think you might have kids in a few years?" Leo asked her, his voice a weird cross between bitterness and hopefulness.

"I don't know, again why?" She asked, she didn't know if it was her lack of sleep of her stress from the impossible decision she was being forced to make but Leo was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Because Karai we are going to take Shredder down, but that's proved to be a challenge. So what were you planning to do if you got to be twenty-something years old and found yourself with a nice guy wanting to start a life, would the threat of Shredder stop you?" He questioned

"I don't know, in case you haven't noticed my life did a complete 180 earlier this month, I am now living with people who just two months ago I was trying to kill! So sorry but I haven't given much thought to ten years from now." She snapped and Leo sighed, allowing a moment of silence to calm them both down.

"Karai I'll never understand what you've been through, but you're my sister. It was Shredder's fault that I didn't have you for fifteen years and right now that's my whole life. Shredder took you from us and I watched Splinter mourn you every day. If you think giving Justin up is the right thing to do then that's fine, and in hindsight maybe it is. But please don't let Shredder be the deciding factor; he took Splinter's daughter for fifteen years. Don't let him take your son." Leo practically begged.

* * *

Little did the two know that as they spoke Shredder was ordering Rahzar to stand down his attack on an unfortunate Kraangdroid.

"You could've fixed me with that machine, and you let the turtles destroy it!?" The furious mutant demanded.

"I said enough Bradford" Shredder warned for the second time that night before addressing the robot.

"You said the experiment was a failure?" He asked of the robot before him

"Kraang was unable to succeed in the action of transforming the mutant known as the monster to transform into what is known as an infant and the one who was formally known as the monster but is now known as the infant escaped with the ones known as the turtles." The robot explained, his broken speech giving both Shredder and Rahzar a headache.

"Hm. If the turtles have the child then sooner or later they will have to bring it back to the surface." The Shredder mused before turning to his only henchman currently in the room.

"Get me Tiger Claw, I have a mission for him."


	4. Siblings are Good for Something

Karai returned to her room not long after her talk with Leo, but it was still hours before she fell asleep. She slept until a little before eight, which considering she didn't go to sleep until nearly five meant that she had gotten a total of less than three hours of sleep. But Justin slept through the night and was still asleep now as Karai changed into her clothes for the day, a pair of jean shorts and a V-neck pink T-shirt. She quickly applied her make-up and was about to leave the room when she took one last look at Justin and found him wide-awake and starring at her. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight if this as she walked back over to him.

"Yeah, cause you were really going to let me leave" she laughed before lifting him into her arms and taking him with her when she left the room.

* * *

One thing Karai forgot, however, was that today was Saturday and as a result April was over early. The two of them don't have a great relationship per se, but they don't have a horrible one. That being said April's reaction could've been worse when Karai entered the kitchen with Justin balanced on her hip like it was the most casual thing in the world. She didn't make some snotty remark, like Karai half expected her to, instead she just looked at her in pure surprise for a moment and then, upon noticing that none of the guys seemed phased in the least by the sight of their sister holding a baby, her face contorted in confusion.

"Uh did I miss something?" She questioned, causing the guys to finally look up from whatever they were doing and notice the obvious issue.

"Oh yeah, Casey and Karai have a son" Mikey said like it was nothing, earning him a slap upside the head courtesy of Raph.

"What!?" April demanded as Karai smirked, as embarrassing as this was she couldn't help but find April's reaction funny.

"Relax O'Neil I didn't sleep with your boyfriend" she insisted before she made her way over to the cabinet and began rummaging around with her free hand for a mug for her tea. "He was created by the Kraang, unfortunately they used a DNA sample from Casey to do it and in the midst of a fight some of my DNA got mixed in." Karai gave April a simple explanation, which Donnie effectively ruined.

"Remember when we told you she created a monster at the genome project?" He asked and at the same time April's eyes widened Karai's narrowed at her little brother.

"That's him?" The red head asked and Donnie nodded. "Well he's really cute," she continued, now addressing Karai. She could sense by the other girl's scowl that she didn't really want to answer any questions right now on how Justin had been transformed into a baby, so for now April would just go with it.

"Thanks" Karai replied with a small grin.

As his sister and only older sibling moved about the kitchen, filling the teakettle with water and setting it to boil, Leo took note of how quickly she was adapting to her son. He was still balanced on her hip, leaning into the arm she had wrapped securely around him. She used her other arm to get what she needed and despite the kitchen being crowded and there barely being enough space between the counter and where Mikey and Raph sat at the table for her to squeeze by she managed to do so with her child on her hip.

"Hey I don't know what babies eat so I made Justin the same thing as the rest of us" Mikey said, nodding his head over to two plates on the counter, one for Karai and one for Justin.

"They drink milk stupid" Raph commented and Mikey blushed, embarrassed that he hadn't known this. But Karai smiled at her youngest brother while she sat Justin on the counter.

"Actually Justin's old enough to eat solid food, thanks Mikey" she said and the young turtles face lit up.

Leo chuckled at his brother but then frowned when he noticed what sister was doing. She normally ate breakfast standing up, and by ate he means forced down a little bit of whatever Mikey cooked up before tossing it in the trash when he wasn't looking, and it had just become normal to him. He had offered her his chair once but she had refused and he didn't persist. Now she had sat her baby on the counter and was standing in front of him holding the plate and a fork trying to feed him.

"Karai are you sure you don't want to sit down?" He asked; he knows that she has her pride but really this was just annoying.

"Yes I'm sure, but this one can't hold onto the plate so if you would like to have him on your lap while he feeds himself I would appreciate it" she said and when Leo nodded she lifted Justin from his seat on the counter and handed him over to Leo, bracing herself for the tears.

But Justin was all right. It seemed that as long as he could see Karai he didn't really care who was holding him. So Karai dropped his plate in front of him and almost handed him the fork, then upon some better judgment traded it for a spoon.

"What if he doesn't like Mikey's pizza omelet?" Donnie questioned

"Dude everybody likes pizza omelet!" Mikey defended; completely unaware of how much Karai hates them.

"He's Casey's kid and that guy will eat anything" Raph put in.

* * *

"So wait, you're a dad?" Angel asked her brother the next morning from her seat on the couch.

"Ugh, how'd you even find out?" Casey groaned as he grabbed his stuff, he wanted to get over to the lair as soon as he possibly could.

"My rooms not soundproof and you and dad are loud, also what's wrong with your head?" Angel continued and it took Casey a minute to realize what part of their argument she was talking about and when he did he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing, just my dyslexia. Look Angel I know I've got a lot of explaining to do but I promise I'll do it later" he said before rushing out the door.

"Wait!" Angel called, springing up and catching her brother before he was gone. Instantly she threw her arms around his middle and pressed her head into his stomach. "You forgot your hug" she muttered and Casey sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, ever since their mom left three years ago Angel had made it her mission to make sure that she said goodbye every time her brother or father left the apartment; just in case it was forever.

"Sorry kid" he whispered to her and a second later she released him and her smile was back on her face.

* * *

Karai was sitting on the floor of the pit with the TV on as Justin crawled around, Donnie said that he had the capability to walk and just needed to learn how; he seemed to pick up crawling pretty quick. He didn't have anywhere to go, but that didn't stop him. Karai smiled at the sight of him, crawling around like an endless little ball of energy. Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts when she heard footsteps behind her and she turned to see Casey.

"Hey, your dad didn't kill you" she commented as he sat down on the couch with a chuckle.

"You sound surprised" he joked

"Yeah somehow I didn't think, _hey dad I have a kid,_ was going to go over well," she said but Casey only chuckled again.

"He was mad but him and mom had me at eighteen, he couldn't stay that way." He explained and Karai made a silent "oh" with her mouth but made no further comment on the matter.

"So now that we've gone through my dad, how did Splinter take the news?" Casey was actually very curious about that. Master Splinter is a cool guy and obviously Karai was able to tell him what actually happened but even with all that considered he was really curious to hear how the rat reacted.

Karai sighed, "I told him that we were considering giving up Justin and he just said that we had a decision to make. Basically he told me what I already know," she said and with a look of sympathy Casey joined her down on the floor.

"Karai. Do you really want to give him up?" Casey asked but Karai only sighed

"I don't know" she admitted, she was currently sitting with her legs crossed and Justin was attempting to crawl into her lap. After his third attempt ended in him falling back on his bottom Karai took pity on the little boy and lifted him into her lap.

She looked so hopeless in the way that she avoided Casey's eyes, choosing instead to look down at the baby in her lap who was presently tugging at the sleeve of his worn out pajamas.

Casey sighed, he really wasn't used to seeing Karai so unsure of herself like this.

"You know I was supposed to meet April this afternoon, why don't you leave Justin with the guys and come with?" He suggested but Karai only frowned.

"No offence Jones but just because this kid has DNA from both of us doesn't mean we have to be friends" she said to him and the look he gave her was one of offence.

"What? What are you talking about?" He questioned her in total shock, what does she mean they don't have to be friends? And what does Justin have to do with them being friends?

"I mean that you and April have never asked me to hang out with you on the surface before and just because Justin's around doesn't mean you have to start" she explained and Casey looked at her incredulously.

"No, that's not… I didn't" Casey stuttered but he was coming up short because in truth, she was right. He was trying to get her out of the lair, give her a break from all this, but really Justin was the only reason he had thought of it.

With an annoyed look in her eyes Karai stood up, keeping Justin in her arms as she did so. Initially she felt a little guilty for having come off so snappy at Casey, her stress from all this was just boiling over. But now, as he was trying and failing to stutter out an excuse, she realized that she was right. He really was only asking her to hang out because he pitied her, and that was not ok.

"Ok clearly you're leaving this up to me, but I can't think clearly with him attached to my hip so if you want to help why don't you take him with you?" She asked and now Casey stood up as well, his anger about as boiling as hers.

"I will!" He said it like it was a challenge but clearly that challenge was accepted when Karai plopped Justin into his arms and marched right past him in the direction of her bedroom.

This left Casey and a surprisingly calm Justin staring at her bewildered as she went.

* * *

Justin remaining calm did not last very long and he began wailing like a siren as soon as Casey set foot out of the lair.

"Ugh, remind me to get you one of those pacifier things" Casey muttered as his son continued to spend their walk home blowing out his father's eardrums.

Eventually he calmed down, mostly because Casey couldn't take his crying anymore and gave the kid his phone. The thing was turned off so Justin was looking at a blank screen but it still kept him quiet.

"Ugh, I'm telling you kid I really messed things up with your mother." Casey sighed, afraid that the mention of Karai would set Justin off again. But it didn't and so he kept going.

"I didn't mean to leave the decision of what to do with you up to her, its just I thought I made my vote clear. I don't know, and I didn't mean how what I said today to come out the way it did. Guess I've got pretty rotten timing huh?" He continued and Justin began whimpering again in response, but Casey chuckled.

"Don't worry, I don't think we're letting you go anywhere. Your mom says she doesn't know what she wants to do but I think she does, she's just afraid." He assured the little boy but that didn't seem to help.

"She is not the only one," a familiar voice bellowed in its signature thick accent. With terror suddenly forcing his blood to turn cold Casey turned around.

"Tiger Claw" he said, his grip on Justin instinctively tightening.

"As much as I would like to kill you boy I am under other orders, so I will make this simple. Give me the child and you will walk away freely." The large mutant bargained but Casey's eyes narrowed.

"Over my dead body cat!" He shouted and Tiger Claw grinned menacingly

"That can be arranged boy".

* * *

"Hey you're not going to change Justin's name are you?" Mikey asked from his seat on Karai's bed as she paced around her room.

"What? No" she answered distractedly.

"You ok? You seem a little stressed" Mikey observed and Karai growled in frustration, mentally asking herself why her little brother was even in here to begin with.

"Mikey I'm still adjusting to life with you guys, now some kid shows up and I'm expected to take care of it along with Casey Jones of all people, so yeah I'm a little stressed." She ranted

"Well, and I'm not in favor of this, but if you're so serious about giving Justin up then what's the problem?" Mikey questioned and at this point Karai couldn't take having this conversation one more time; she needed to come to a decision once and for all.

"The problem is that I don't want to give him up!" She exclaimed, slightly surprised by her own words. "I don't want to give him up. I want to keep him, I want to be his… try and be his mother. But I don't know how" she admitted, taking a seat beside her little brother on the bed.

"So?" He asked with a shrug, "You think Splinter knew what he was doing?" Mikey continued to ask, "You think Leo knows how to be a leader? Dude the guy takes notes from Space Heroes." Mikey pointed out and that earned him a giggle from his sister.

"Mikey's got a point," a voice said from the doorway and the two occupants of the room turned their heads to see Raph standing in the doorway.

"By the way, Casey doesn't have the slightest clue as to how to be a dad either" he continued as he came and sat beside the other two on the bed. "No one ever knows what they're doing, but that's just life." He advised; this was a side of Raph that he seldom showed, a side of him that was warm and compassionate and wise. Karai hasn't been in the lair for long but she still knows Raph enough to know that this isn't something he does often, and she's lucky to be able to see him put his walls down enough to offer any advice he can.

"Yeah, it's just like testing Donnie's airborne inventions! You just jump off a high rise, pull the string, and pray a parachute comes out!" Mikey elaborated and Karai couldn't help but giggle while Raph smirked and shook his head in amusement, Mikey had a point.

Karai was about to say something, but the ringing of her T-Phone interrupted the moment and when she pulled it out she saw Casey's caller I.D.

"Hello" she answered the call, her voice much more calm than it was when she talked to Casey an hour ago.

She didn't say anything, and Raph and Mikey exchanged glances as their sister's eyes went wide with terror and she finally spoke before hanging up the phone.

"I'll be right there"


	5. Sacrifice

Casey didn't have any of his weapons on him and the only thing he was holding was his son, so he chose the first and only foreseeable alternative to fighting, he ran like hell. Unfortunately it's hard enough to outrun a mutant tiger with a jet pack on a good day, never mind trying to outrun a mutant tiger with a jet pack while carrying a kid who weighs roughly twenty pounds. Casey had barely made it down the empty street when he felt a huge paw grab him by the back of his shirt and yank him backward.

"I will be taking this" Tiger Claw snarled, forcibly tearing Justin from his father's arms.

Justin in return started crying louder than ever while Casey desperately kicked and punched at Tiger Claw in vain until the tiger flung him harshly into the brick wall of a nearby building.

* * *

Casey didn't know how long he'd been out, but he didn't think it was long. His head was pounding and when he lifted his hand to it he was met with the feeling of something wet and sticky. Taking his hand away revealed that there was blood dripping down his finger tips but it was still fresh, he had only been out a couple of minutes.

 _Justin!_ He thought urgently and without a second thought he took out his phone and called Karai.

"Hello" her voice picked up

 _At least she doesn't sound angry anymore_ Casey thought to himself with a rush of relief.

"Karai! Shred- Tiger Claw attacked me! I'm at the corner of Eastman and Laird, hurry he took Justin!" He exclaimed all in one hurried breath.

The other end of the phone was silent for a minute, and then, just when Casey thought he might have lost her, she spoke again.

"I'll be right there," she said.

* * *

Karai hung up her phone and bolted up from her bed, quickly snatching her tanto from her makeshift nightstand.

"Whoa, where are you going in such a hurry?" Raph asked just as his sister reached the doorway.

"Shredder has Justin!" She called back before stumbling backwards; she had been going so fast that she bumped straight into Leo.

"What?" The leader asked in disbelief, having managed to hear her shouting to Raph what was happening.

"Let's move" Raph's gruff voice ordered from the doorway where he and Mikey now stood.

"No" Karai said, finally allowing her mind to slow it's speeding pace. "No it's the middle of the day, you guys can't come." She insisted

"It's Shredder, you can't go alone." Raph argued

"I won't be alone, I'll have Casey." Karai argued back but even she knew that was a terrible point.

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," Leo voiced

"I don't care, I'm not risking your secret because Casey lost a kid." Karai argued and Leo was about to argue back when Splinter approached the group.

"What is going on over here?" He asked, of his children.

"Ding-Dong here is going after Shredder, with Casey as back up." Raph explained, pointing to Karai whose expression was somewhere between guilt and anger, the anger pointed mostly at Raph.

"Miwa-" Splinter began but his daughter cut him off.

"He has Justin!" She said quickly, she's never one to interrupt her father, none of the Hamato children are. But every second she wasted here arguing was another second Justin spent in the hands of a monster, a monster who held her captive for much to long.

Splinter's expression immediately changed from one of anger to one of worry.

"They can't go out in the day, it's too dangerous. But I can't wait until it's dark to go" she said and Raph opened his mouth to argue but Splinter beat him to it.

"Go" he said to his daughter, all four of his children standing before him looked at him in shock. Ignoring their stares Splinter rested a gentle paw on Miwa's shoulder. "There is not a day that has gone by since I learned you were alive that I have not wished I could have saved you sooner. Go, save your child." He continued and in response Karai threw her arms around her father who returned the hug. "This is not goodbye my daughter, I will see you again." He said; she nodded her head against him before releasing him from their embrace and rushing off out of the lair.

Once she was gone Splinter turned back to the three boys who were still standing with him in the hallway, their faces completely stunned.

"If she has not returned by sunset, we will go after her." He instructed.

* * *

Casey's head had finally stopped spinning and the blood had just stopped running when he heard the sound of footsteps moving quickly down the sidewalk behind him. When he turned around he was met with a swift smack to the face.

"Ow!" He shouted on reflex as he stumbled back, looking up to see a furious Karai standing before him.

"You had him for one hour and you lost him to Shredder?!" She demanded as he rubbed his cheek.

"Hey it's not like I didn't fight back! You try taking on Tiger Claw and protecting Justin at the same time!" Casey shouted in defense

"Ugh! This is exactly why we should've given him up!" Karai exclaimed, angrily kicking an imaginary rock in frustration.

"Ok giving him up would not have stopped Shredder. He had Tiger Claw patrolling, he was watching for Justin." Casey said and then he watched as Karai balled her fists before instead choosing to slowly run her hands down her face in frustration as she let out an almost feral sounding snarl. Instantly he became worried, she looked like she might just claw her own eyes out. Obviously he knew she wouldn't do something like that but he still went and grabbed her wrists.

"Let go of me, let go of me!" She ordered as he pulled her hands off of her face.

"Karai!" He said sternly as he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and instantly she changed. She wasn't calm, but she wasn't angry either. In fact her eyes were haunted and she almost looked broken, like she was just barely managing to hold herself together and she was doing it only because she was afraid that no one would be there if she didn't.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, "I'm sorry I lost him and I'm sorry for coming off as stupid as I did earlier." He apologized, tears starting to well up in his eyes. "Look I don't know if we're ever gonna be friends or if we're just stuck dealing with each other for the rest of our lives, but we can fight about all this later" he said quickly, the gravity that Justin was in the hands of Shredder because of him was starting to hit hard, so he had to get off the subject.

"Ok" Karai said with a nod and with that they were off, heading for Shredder's lair.

* * *

After swinging by the alley of Casey's apartment to pick up the gear he kept stashed on the fire escape the two of them found themselves hiding in an alley across the street from the church.

"So no offence but we're going two against…" Casey trailed off as he began counting on his fingers the amount of henchmen Shredder has working for him, not forgetting Shredder himself. "A lot" He finally concluded, realizing that he had no idea how many foot bots they would find in there. "Do you have a plan?" He questioned and Karai nodded.

"Shredder knows someone's coming for Justin, he also knows better than anyone that revenge can cloud a person's judgment, even if he won't admit it." She grumbled the last part bitterly, "We'll never be able to sneak in when he's on alert, but lucky for us he thinks I'm hell-bent on annihilating him" she began to explain.

"Aren't you?" Casey interrupted and Karai shrugged

"I want him gone but I'm not stupid enough to try something with Justin in there" she said and Casey couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway he thinks I'm stupid enough to come alone, so I'll go in while you wait on the roof-" she tried to explain but Casey cut her off.

"So I'm just back up?" He asked

"Do you have a better idea?" She questioned him and he thought for a moment but upon the realization that he didn't he conceded to go with her plan.

"How are you getting in?" He asked

"Shredder knows I'm coming, might as well just use the front door." She answered, "Hey, if we make it out of here-" she began but again Casey cut her off.

"We will" he assured her

"I don't want to be just stuck with each other, do you think we could just forget about this morning and try being friends?" She asked and Casey couldn't help but smile again.

"Sure" he agreed before pulling down his mask, "good luck".

"You to" and with that Casey ran back the way they came so that he could get to Shredder's hideout from behind.

Karai took a deep breathe before crossing the street, and despite it being the middle of the day there were foot bots posted at the entrance who saw her the moment she stepped out into the open. Without hesitation Karai raised her hands in surrender, silently praying that this was going to work and she wouldn't have to resort to her back up plan.

She went through the motions as three foot bots approached her, one jammed a Kraang blaster into her back, and they led her into the church. They led her over to the large staircase hidden in the back corner of the main entrance, the only way up to the throne room. As they led her up the stairs Karai's mind was lost somewhere in the distance.

She couldn't stop thinking about what happened… just last night. Last night Justin had been transformed into what he is now, last night her entire world changed forever; it was only last night. Last night had been when she looked into that cage, when she saw the little boy crying for his mother, when she claimed that he doesn't have one. Now she hated herself for speaking those words. That little boy, no HER little boy, does have a mother. He has her. Leo was right, if she had given up Justin solely based on her fear of Shredder, which was what was driving her decision, then it was no different than the maniac taking away her baby himself.

Just then they reached the throne room and the robots led her inside, where she saw Shredder sitting on his throne with an old playpen at his side. Sitting in the playpen was a whimpering Justin who caught his mother's eye.

"Leave us" Shredder ordered the robots, which obediently released their hold on Karai and exited the room. "Karai" Shredder began, forcing Karai's worried expression to look away from Justin and morph into one of pure anger.

"Let. My son. Go." She demanded, her dangerously low voice dripping with venom as Shredder let out a low growl.

"This creature does not belong to you" he claimed and if Karai wasn't half sure he knew who Justin used to be she would've had some fun with this.

Just then, before Karai could even think about attacking her most hated enemy, Tiger Claw entered the room, dragging a struggling Casey along with him.

"We found this spy on the roof Master" The cat growled and as Shredder's eyes narrowed Karai's heart sank when she noticed Casey had been stripped of his weapons, she'd have to enact plan B.

"You were foolish to bring such pathetic back up Karai" Shredder growled at her and she frowned.

"Let them go. Let Casey take Justin and go, and I'll stay as your prisoner." She bargained and Casey's eyes went wide.

"What? Karai don-" he tried to say but Tiger Claw silenced him by digging his claws into his wrists.

"I won't try and escape, I won't try and make contact with the turtles or anybody else. Just let my son go," she begged and Shredder seemed to be considering the offer.

"Very well" he agreed.

Casey watched in horror as Karai walked slowly, dragging her feet until she reached the steps up to Shredder's throne and then practically ran up them. As she bent over the edge of the playpen and lifted their son into her arms his gut twisted painfully.

 _This can't be happening_ he thought to himself, after all these years the guys had just gotten Karai back, they can't lose her again.

Karai brought Justin in close to her chest and savored it as he locked his little arms around her neck, believing everything to be ok. She turned to walk back down the stairs but Shredder blocked her path.

"If you try to escape, I will not hesitate to kill that pathetic child before your eyes." He threatened and Karai knew he was serious, so with a shaky breath she nodded and he let her pass.

As she walked slowly across the room she shifted Justin in her arms so that he was sitting on one of her forearms straddling her stomach with her other arm wrapped securely around his back. He looked up at her confused, he didn't know what was happening but he knew it wasn't good. She walked with her head down the whole time, just staring down at her baby with almost crying eyes as he looked back up at her. A part of her was absently wondering how the hell she ever expected she would be able to bring herself give the little boy in her arms up, because she was just barely managing to give herself up. When she finally reached Casey Tiger Claw had already released him, though he was still standing right behind the hockey player. Karai planted a kiss on her son's forehead before handing him over to his father who seemed to just barely be mentally present in the situation.

"Karai" he finally said once he was holding Justin and the gravity of all this hit him, this was really happening.

But he didn't dare speak again when Karai looked up at him. Her eyes were red and glassed over with tears, and her face was even redder.

"You're going to keep him?" She asked in a whisper of a shaky voice and Casey nodded.

"Time to go boy" Tiger Claw announced when suddenly the last thing Casey would've ever expected happened, Karai threw her arms around him.

She was mindful of Justin, and it took Casey a second to process what was happening before he found himself putting his free arm around her.

"Tell him I love him," she whispered into his ear and Casey so desperately wanted to say _no._ He wanted to tell her that he'd break her out, that this wasn't even real, that she would always be around to tell him herself. But he couldn't. So he nodded just once and she released him, returning her gaze to the ground.

As Casey was led away from the throne room Karai felt a hand on her shoulder, not a comforting one, but one that reminded her that she is now a prisoner.


	6. Prisoner

It was almost sunset and Karai still hadn't returned. The guys were getting ready to go out, at this rate they might have ended up going out a few minutes before dark. But just then they heard the slow steps of someone approaching the lair. They turned to see Casey dragging his feet with Justin in his arms.

"Casey, where's Karai?" Raph questioned as his friend entered the lair shaking his head.

"She, she gave herself up" he admitted as he sank down into a seat on the couch.

"What?" Leo questioned as all four turtles, and April who had stopped by, turned their attention on Casey.

"She made a deal, Justin's freedom for hers," he explained

"What?!" Raph nearly shouted, this resulted in causing Justin to cry.

"Thanks a lot Raph" Casey grumbled as he stood up and began rocking Justin back and forth. But Raph's response was to pull out a sai and direct it at his best friend's head.

"Thanks a lot me? Forget about your kid Jones, if it wasn't for you-" he started as he marched closer to Casey but he was cut off and restrained by Leo and Donnie grabbing him by the arms and pulling him back. "Let go of me! Let go of me!" He ordered, thrashing about in the vice like grips of his brothers.

During all this April made a motion to take Justin from Casey, in case Raph broke free and attacked him. But when Casey tried to hand him over the little boy wouldn't allow it and gripped tightly at the fabric of his father's vest. If this were any other situation Casey might have felt a twinge of pride, pride that his son recognized him as his father. But this wasn't any other situation.

"What is going on in here?!" Splinter's voice cut through the commotion like a knife, even Justin toned down his sobs to mere whimpers. After a long pause of silence Raph managed to finally shake off Leo and Donnie and look back at Splinter.

"I'll tell you what's going on Sensei, thanks to Casey, Shredder has Karai again!" He shouted and Splinter, well nobody could exactly read Splinter's expression. He didn't look surprised, he definitely looked worried; all in all he just looked heartbroken.

"Guys it wasn't Casey's fault" April jumped in but Casey's downcast eyes said it all, he didn't believe that.

"Thanks Red but who are you kidding?" He asked

"Casey-" She tried but he cut her off

"I should've fought harder against Tiger Claw," he muttered

"You did everything you could Casey. Tiger Claw and The Shredder are dangerous enemies-" Splinter began but Casey couldn't listen to this, he just couldn't.

"And I let them take Karai away!" He exploded, this caused his barely calm son to start wailing in his arms but Casey barely acknowledged the baby, he was too angry. "I know they're dangerous, but what did I do? I kept thinking that I didn't need any help in learning how to face them! Even after Tiger Claw threw me off a freaking building I still thought I could handle him! Now thanks to my stubborn ass Karai's gone again and this time she's not coming back!" He shouted; Justin was now balling his eyes out no thanks to his father but his cries still went mostly ignored.

"We'll rescue Karai" Leo assured Casey in a calm voice but the hockey player only gave his friend a shake of his head.

"She won't go" he deadpanned, "As log as Shredder has her he won't hurt Justin, so break in all you want but she won't go with you." He said and with that everyone except Justin was quiet "I'm brining Justin home" Casey finally mumbled and with that he left.

The lair remained quiet after that, everyone frozen in place until the sounds of Justin's crying had all but faded away from the outside tunnels of the sewer.

"Sensei?" Leo finally asked, turning to Splinter for guidance.

"Casey is right, Miwa will willingly remain a prisoner of the Shredder if it can guarantee the safety of her child" he began

"But Sensei this is Shredder we're talking about, do you think he'll really keep his word?" Donnie questioned.

"I do not know. But I do not intend to find out the hard way. It is time that this cycle of vengeance came to an end, it is time we took out The Shredder" Splinter continued.

* * *

When Xever found himself assigned to guard duty down in the dungeon he thought the worst part of the job was how humiliating it was, he was wrong. The by far worst part of the job was listening to the prisoner. He just didn't understand it, they had held Karai captive for a month once before and aside from her snide comments she never made a peep. But for the past two hours screams of bloody murder had been persistently coming from her cell, it sounded as though someone was torturing her in there. Finally Xever couldn't take it anymore and he marched into the room that contained her cell and the sight that greeted him could only be described as pathetic.

Behind the iron bars was Karai, doubled over on her knees with her arms wrapped around herself and tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Would you shut up!?" He growled, raising his voice to be heard over her sobs. "What are you crying for anyway? That pathetic child?" He demanded but she only kept crying.

In truth a part of this was scaring him, Karai and him had never been friends but they weren't enemies either. They had worked together without complaint during her time in the Foot. Sure he would often admit that Bradford was right about her being daddy's little girl, but he also wouldn't deny that she had the skills to back up her high position in the ranks. She was always so sure of herself and so self reliant, so to see her broken like this scared him.

"Why do you care so much for that boy anyway? He is not yours, why give your freedom?" He questioned and finally Karai looked up at him.

Her eyes were bloodshot red and her breath was repeatedly catching in her throat as she tried to calm herself enough to speak. She reached out for the bars of the cell door as she did this and gripped them tightly to pull herself to her feet. Her grip on the bars remained, even after she leaned her head against the door, it was like she didn't have the strength to hold herself up.

"It was my… It was my DNA," she confessed and that was all she managed to choke out before the sobs took control of her again and she hit her knees once more.

* * *

Casey felt helpless. It was nearing two in the morning and Justin was still crying. He missed his mother; it was that simple. Casey thought about bringing him to the lair but decided that it would only make things worse for Justin to go there and find that Karai wasn't there, not to mention that Raph's still out for Casey's blood due to all this.

"Fine Justin don't sleep, I can't blame you anyway." He grumbled, he had been pacing around his bedroom with Justin in his arms for at least four hours now but it wasn't working. So with no better plan Casey shifted his son into one arm and used his free hand to open his window and, carefully balancing Justin on his lap, he sat down on the edge.

"We'll get her back, I promise," he said to his son but it didn't seem to help at all. "I haven't known your mother very long, but for the short time that I have known her I've known that the armor she wears in battle isn't even half as strong as she is." He began, "Now don't ever repeat this word, but your mom has walked through hell these past few months, and I promise you that she will make it back." He continued and now, finally, Justin began calming down. Casey smiled down at his son before he continued, "she loves you, I don't think she's too crazy about me but she loves you" he said with a laugh and after that it was quiet.

Casey just sat there until Justin fell asleep and then he got up and put him down in the old playpen he had dragged out of his dad's closet and set up in his room. Then he walked back to sitting on the windowsill and staring out at the city.

"I promise Karai, I don't know how but I promise, you will be here before he turns two." He swore.


	7. Worlds Apart

Karai didn't know how long she spent crying, but it must have been a long time. She had never cried so hard in her life, and she almost couldn't believe that she was crying like this over a baby she barely knew. Sure she upset about the idea of never seeing her father and brothers again, but never again seeing her son is what broke her. She hated Shredder, hated him more than she did before. She didn't think it was possible for him to do anything worse to her than he already had, but she was wrong. This was worse. This was worse than kidnapping her and lying to her, worse than training her to murder her own father. He had managed to force her to come back to him willingly, and she hated it.

For hours now she had been sobbing so hard that her entire body shook violently and eventually she found herself on her hands and knees, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the concrete floor. Once she was done vomiting she just barely made the motion to wipe her mouth and only continued to cry.

* * *

Casey never fell asleep that night. He just couldn't, every time he closed his eyes he was threatened with nightmares of Karai sitting down in Shredder's dungeon. A part of him wondered if Shredder saw her cry, or if she was too proud to give him that satisfaction. He wondered how long this would last, and frighteningly he wondered what would ultimately happen to her. They had to bring her home, but with Shredder still in the picture she would never come. A small part of him wished that his own mother were rotting away somewhere like that, as cruel as that may seem. But Karai gave her freedom for Justin; Casey only wished that when his mom left it wasn't because she couldn't handle her children.

Anyway, he left his room at seven that morning, deciding to wake Justin up in an hour if he didn't wake up on his own by then, and went and made himself some coffee.

"You're up early" his dad commented, walking into the kitchenette to find his son sitting on a barstool by the counter drinking the coffee he didn't usually have until noon.

"Couldn't sleep," he said with a shrug and his dad chuckled.

"I know, your sister and I could hear him all night" he joked but Casey sighed. He hadn't told his dad anything last night, only that he was going to have Justin for a while. "Hey, it was his first night. He'll warm up to being here" Mr. Jones encouraged upon seeing the solemn look on his son's face.

"She's gone," he practically whispered

"What?" Mr. Jones asked, a sudden seriousness overtaking his face.

"Karai, Justin's mom" he said, burying his face in his folded arms.

"She left?" Mr. Jones questioned, taking a seat beside his son. Sure he understood that the girl had clearly been having trouble handling Justin alone, but he didn't really expect her to hand Justin over to Casey and leave.

Casey looked up and shook his head, "she didn't want to" he admitted. "She's uh… she's in jail" he lied; he was not good at lying on the spot.

Looking at his father Casey could almost see the steam coming out of the man's ears, and he made a mental note to find some sort of payback if he ever sees Karai again for all the screaming sessions she's causing between him and his father.

"Jail? You've got to be freaking kidding me Casey! I knew you weren't a genius but I thought you had the brains not to get mixed up with criminals!" His dad bellowed and it amazed Casey that he didn't hear any indication that the shouting had woken Justin.

"It's not like that dad!" He exclaimed

"What did she do, huh? You know what, I don't want to know. What I do want to know is how many stunts you were involved in before she ran off! Dammit Casey what else do you and your sister do when I'm not home?" He accused furiously

"Ok leave Angel out of this!" Casey shouted back, he normally knew better than to argue against his dad and knew how to take all the insults and false accusations, but there was no way he was letting the man get angry at Angel over something she had absolutely no involvement in.

"You don't talk to me like that! Not when you're the one who knocked up a criminal!" His dad screamed

"She's not a criminal!" Casey fought back, mentally adding that he also didn't knock her up.

"Oh yeah? Why's she in jail?" Mr. Jones challenged

"She's not!" Casey exclaimed before he could catch himself, but when his dad didn't yell anything back he realized what he said.

"So where is she?" His dad demanded to know

Casey thought fast, trying to put together a quick story in his head, and he managed with one he thought should work.

"I don't know," he muttered

"You don't know?" His father's voice was starting to rise again.

"Hey, do you know where mom is?" Casey snapped and he didn't know what scared him more, the fact that he had stooped this low or the fact that his father didn't react at all. "Sorry" he muttered before sitting back on the barstool, at some point both he ad his father had stood up, and taking a long sip of his coffee before speaking again Casey mulled over what he was going to say.

"When we were going out she said that some guy was trying to take down her dad, I never met her dad but I always thought she meant in a corporate kind of way. But yesterday she asked me to take Justin for a few hours and the next thing I knew I was getting a call from her brother; they were attacked on their way home. Three thugs with guns pulled up and took her." He lied; using the story he had been told of April's first encounter with the turtles. It wasn't a total lie; Karai had been kidnapped, just not on the side of the road.

Mr. Jones sat back down beside his son, trying to think of something to say.

"Do you think they were lying?" He asked and Casey's head shot up as he anger reignited, how could his father even think that? Sure he was lying about how it happened but not about what happened, Karai was kidnapped.

"I went to their place dad, her whole family is worried sick about her!" He exclaimed and his father nodded.

"Did she ever give you the man's name?" He questioned but Casey shook his head, knowing that he couldn't give his father information like that.

"No, I don't think she knew the guy's name." He lied, a part of him wanted to give his dad The Shredder's real name, because if they can't take down The Shredder maybe, just maybe, they would have better luck taking down Oroku Saki.

* * *

When Xever went into the dungeon with Karai's bowl of stale rice for breakfast she had stopped crying, and when he returned that night with her dinner he was surprised to find the breakfast bowl empty, after last night he thought she may try and starve herself. Dinner was the same as breakfast and he expected her to complain that she hated the food just like she used to, but she just stared at the ground as if she were in a trance.

"I see you have finally learned some manners" he spat at her, but she did not move. She had been sitting in the same spot against the back wall when he left her this morning, and Xever was wondering if she had moved at all during the day.

It was clear that he wouldn't get anything out of her so he left the bowl outside of the bars like he was supposed to and left the room.

* * *

As if Casey's day wasn't bad enough he had a mandatory summer hockey practice that night. He left Justin with his dad and sister, figuring they could manage for two hours. Well apparently he figured wrong because at eight-thirty while he was waiting for his turn to run a drill he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye, two someone's actually. Angel was walking down the steps of the arena with Justin in her arms. If Casey wasn't so panicked by this he might have found their appearance humorous, as Angel's only nine and so Justin was almost to big for her to carry. It was kind of funny to watch Angel watching her step on each stair as she just barely managed to keep Justin balanced on her hip. Casey had to take his eye off her when it was his turn and as soon as he was done with the drill he scanned the rows of seats for his sister and son. Eventually he found them, sitting in the third row of seats, Angel looking more bored than Justin.

Thankfully the two were well behaved and when practice ended Casey hurried over to where they sat.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked, an amused smirk on his face. Angel looked bored out of her skull while Justin sat in the seat next to her, happily gurgling out some sort of baby nonsense.

"Dad got called into work, here's twenty bucks, neither of us have eaten" Angel said, digging out a crumpled up twenty from her jeans pocket.

"Seriously, dad did feed you two at all?" He asked as he tried to ignore Justin persistently raising his arms to be lifted.

"Well he ate some apple sauce but other than that no" Angel answered and Casey rolled his eyes, it wasn't unusual for him and Angel to eat late at night like this but he thought his dad would have the sense to feed Justin earlier.

"Alright, let me grab my stuff and we'll go," he said before heading off in the direction of the locker room. As he went he heard Justin begin to whimper and Angel tell him that his dad would be right back, needless to say that didn't work and when Casey returned his son was crying, his sister was uselessly doing nothing more than just staring at him, and three of his friends were closer to the two than he was.

"Perfect" Casey grumbled as he made his way over to the scene.

"Hey Casey, who's the kid?" His friend Josh questioned and Casey couldn't help but cringe, he couldn't lie in front of his sister, she'd just rat him out.

"Why didn't you tell your friends?" Angel innocently asked; unaware of how awkward this already was for her brother.

"I was a little to busy dodging hockey pucks," he snapped at his little sister in response before turning to his friends.

"He's uh… he's mine" he admitted, Karai is so going to kill him for this if they ever manage to rescue her.

While he picked up Justin, which turned out to be enough to quiet the boy, his friends stared at him completely dumbfounded.

"Wait but he's like… I don't know but he's not like a new baby." His friend Marcus pointed out and before Casey could comment the sound of Nick snorting with laughter broke through the conversation.

"What's so funny Nick?" Casey demanded

"You!" Nick answered, "The infamous Casey Jones got a girl pregnant!" He exclaimed, Casey knew full well that from this moment on that was all he would hear for the rest of high school. Nick's still angry about the incident in the playoff games at the end of eighth grade and now he had the perfect way to get back at Casey.

"Shut up Nick, at least girl's look at me." He mocked

"They won't once this get's out" Nick threatened

"Nick shut up, otherwise you'll be going to prom in a wheelchair" Dan threatened, just now joining in the conversation.

There wasn't a single person on the team who liked Nick, but he had skills on the ice so they put up with him. But he's just so immature, even for a seventeen-year-old guy, and sometimes Casey wondered what made him like that.

"Eh, proms not until May" Nick countered, pointing out that it's still ten months until prom.

"That won't matter if I tear your legs off," Dan argued and Nick grumbled something under his breath but Casey figured that this meant, for now at least, this wouldn't get out until the school year actually started.

"So uh, who exactly did you…?" Marcus questioned, he and Casey had been good friends since freshman year and he was sure that if there were at least a rumor going around that Jones had knocked up a girl he would've known, or at the very least noticed a pregnant girl in school who didn't have a boyfriend.

"Oh uh, she doesn't go to our school, she's actually homeschooled." Casey excused

"If I wasn't looking at the kid, I'd call you a liar" Josh commented as Dan picked up his bag and turned to go.

"You should bring her to a game once the season starts" he called over his shoulder, resulting in the remaining three guys staring a Casey expectantly.

"Yeah. I'll uh, I'll talk to her," He said awkwardly before grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, then grabbing Angel's hand with his free one and leading her out of the arena.

As he puled his sister towards the door Angel looked up at him with a curious expression, "who is Justin's mom?" She asked.

* * *

It was only a few minutes after Xever brought her breakfast the next morning that Shredder entered the room. She knew he was there, but she didn't care. She just continued to stare absently at the ground, even as he spoke.

"It doesn't have to be this way Karai," he pleaded with her; "If you would only return to fighting at my side" he said and at that Karai narrowed her eyes. She may be stuck here, but she doesn't have to listen to this. If Shredder wanted her to talk then fine, she'll talk. She glared up at the armored man standing before her, her cold expression perfectly in place.

"I'd tell you to go to hell, but you're already here." She commented, this resulted in Xever (who was standing behind his master) gasping and Shredder gripping the iron bars of the cage.

"You ungrateful child! You think you know pain?" He demanded and Karai rose to her feet in response before walking over to the bars so that she was face to mask with Shredder.

"You murdered my mother, stole me from my father, my brother's, my friends, and my son! So yeah I think I know pain!" She shouted, the last time she was here she never would've dared challenge Shredder like this, but last time was different. Last time she had been locked up after discovering a lie, this time she had known and made a new and better life that he ripped her away from, this time he crossed the line.

Had it not been for the cast iron bars between them Shredder just might have slapped Karai across the face. But the most he could do without opening the door was reach through and shove her away harshly. She stumbled backwards and fell to her knees, but did not hesitate to get back up.

"Speak to me like that again Karai, and you will be severely punished" he threatened and once he was gone Karai got back on the ground and kept her mouth shut, hoping Shredder wouldn't figure out that there's only one punishment more severe than this.


	8. Concern

It had been a little over a week now since they first captured Karai, and Xever had thought that somehow guard duty would get better. But he was wrong. That first night was bad but tonight just may be rivaling as worse. Karai hadn't spoken since her little outburst towards Shredder, and the leader of the Foot Clan had since paid the dungeon a futile visit or two. Xever hadn't heard her crying at all since that first night, but tonight he did. She was just as loud as she had been the first night, but the cries were somehow more agonizing. The first night had been tears; tonight the sounds Xever heard were those of feral screams. Because of this it took him a considerably shorter amount of time before he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and he ran into the room, unable to believe what he saw in the only occupied prison cell. Karai was on her feet, something that should've been a pleasant change of pace, but she was crying out as loud as she possibly could while slamming her arms into the hard concrete of her cell wall.

"Hey! Hey what are you doing!?" Xever demanded but Karai just kept going like she didn't even hear him. "Karai!" He shouted but she paid him no attention and just kept screaming.

For a minute Xever watched helplessly as Karai beat her bare arms against the solid rock until he saw blood trickling down her skin and decided that enough was enough. He ran to get Shredder, he didn't know why or what his master would do, but he knew he would want to know about this. Shredder followed his aquatic minion down into the dungeon but when they arrived the feral noises the fish had described were not present. Entering the room in which Karai's cell was located they found Karai the way they always did, sitting against the back wall of her cell with her head down.

While Xever gasped in confusion Shredder studied Karai for second or two, and noticed that there were in fact scrapes covering her arms, some of them bleeding, that had not been there during his last visit to the dungeon. He wanted to help her, but if this was the only way she would learn then so be it, he turned and left.

* * *

Karai apparently wasn't the only Hamato child who had snapped tonight. Halfway across the city and underground a punching bag was being pounded into oblivion until it finally flew off it's hanger.

"Raph it's two in the morning, what's eating you?" Leo asked when the fifty-pound sack landed at his feet.

"What's eating me? Leo Karai's still gone!" He shouted before collecting the bag and setting it back up.

"Since when do you care?" The leader asked skeptically

Raph just eyed his brother as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Really? After everything you still think I don't care?" He asked and when Leo only shrugged Raph just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just go back to bed and let me beat up the punching bag in peace" he said and although Leo lingered for a moment he did in fact turn back around and retreat down the hall to his bedroom.

Once Leo had left Raph returned to his business, angrier than before. How dare Leo say he doesn't care! There's a difference between trusting and caring, but even if there weren't it wouldn't matter because he has come to trust Karai. He's learned to accept that she's his sister, and now she's gone because of his best friend. He delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the bag and once again managed to send it flying clean off its hook.

"She'd tell me it wasn't his fault," he grumbled, the anger miraculously leaving his body. It was strange, because at first he didn't trust her, but then somehow she managed to do something none of the others ever did, she managed to calm him down.

* * *

 _Raph was furiously beating his pillow, he had lost his temper again and without Spike to vent to he was losing his mind._

 _"I just don't get it! Mikey starts being a jerk and I'm the bad guy for putting him in his place!" He exclaimed, ok maybe knocking Mikey to the ground with a surprise punch to his face was a little uncalled for when the youngest turtle had been calling Raph's sais salad fork like Spider Bytez did but he just wouldn't stop, therefor what choice did Raph have other than to make him._

 _Suddenly there was a knock at his door, which Raph found extremely odd since EVERYONE knows to stay away from him when he's angry. But he went and opened the door anyway, even more surprised when he found Karai on the other side. She had only been home for four days, and the two of them hadn't said more than two words to each other._

 _"In case you missed the memo it's best to stay away from me when I blow up" he spat at her._

 _"Oh trust me I got the memo" she countered_

 _"Great, so do like the other's and get lost." Raph spat, turning his back and returning to the darkness of his room. Karai however just stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "What are ya, deaf?" He questioned, turning back to face Karai after she did the exact opposite of what he asked._

 _She was leaning against the door, arms crossed over chest and Raph could tell she was trying to think of something to say._

 _"You know we don't think you're a joke," she finally decided on and Raph just looked at her completely dumbfounded._

 _"What?" He asked_

 _"Mikey mocked your weapons, mocked you as a ninja. But just because he was joking and we were laughing doesn't mean we think you're any less of a ninja" she elaborated_

 _"Princess, do you honestly think I care what you think of me?" He questioned and she only shrugged._

 _"I don't know, but I do know that you care about what the guys think and they think that despite your temper you're a great ninja" she continued and for a second Raph just looked at her, completely dumbfounded again. "Say what you want about me Raph, but I know what it's like to feel anger." With that said she opened the door and left_

* * *

Raph rehung the punching bag with a sigh, Karai hadn't even been home a week at that point and their relationship had been far from friends, but she still went and talked to him. All the others, even Splinter, had given up on him years ago and as a result he was left to sort his temper out for himself more often than not. Splinter had tried to talk to him a few times over the years but it never did any good, his father just doesn't understand how his anger can go from zero to sixty in half a second flat. But Karai does. It's not always obvious but she has a temper that rivals his, she's just set off by different things and has much better control. But she understands him, she's the only one who can actually handle him after he's been set off, and now she's gone. He want's to blame Casey, but he knows his sister too well. She'd tell him it was her choice, more importantly she'd tell him that Justin shouldn't grow up in a feuding family, so she'd tell him to get over it.

Tiredly, Raph trudged back to his room and flopped down on his bed before he very quietly began to cry. He would never admit to crying of course, he does have a reputation to protect after all. Splinter says that they'll bring down the Shredder, but so far they haven't been able to come up with a decent plan. Mikey's been sleeping in Karai's room, he thinks the others don't know but they do. The Shellraiser is temporarily out of order, since Donnie starting rearranging the interior the day after they found Justin to install a seat for Karai so she could stop sitting on the floor. Unfortunately this remodel involved the steering being rewired which Donnie started but didn't finish before Karai's capture and now he can't bear to drag himself back to it. As for Raph, Splinter, and Leo, they've been trying to create a plan to take out Shredder once and for all, something easier said then done. No one's seen or heard from Casey, and April rarely comes around. Everyone's grieving in his or her own way like she's dead, but she's not.

"We're coming for ya Karai, and you sure as hell are coming back with us" Raph said aloud, wishing his big sister could hear him.

* * *

"I brought you something" Xever announced the next morning, placing a plate on the ground in front of the cell, it was the very food Karai had asked him for the day she escaped last time.

He was hoping for a reaction from the girl, any kind of reaction. But she just sat there with her knees pulled to her chest.

"Do you want to tell me why you were punching the wall last night?" He tried

"I was angry" Karai muttered matter-of-factly

"I see, therefore your natural solution was to ram your bare fists into a concrete wall." He stated but when Karai gave no response he sighed and began walking away, until her voice called him back.

"You ever love someone Xever?"

He turned back and looked at her, his fact slightly apprehensive.

"A mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a friend? Anyone?" She continued to question

"I had a brother once" Xever admitted, "but he passed away long ago" he continued

"I'm sorry" Karai muttered but Xever only chuckled.

"Don't be, he was an evil boy," he said

"What did you feel when he died?" Karai questioned, her face a little too sincere and too close to tears for Xever's liking.

"What did I feel? This is not a therapy group, and for the record I felt nothing!" The mutant fish exclaimed before he decided he had enough and he left, making sure to slam the door behind him.

* * *

"Tony I checked all reports within the past month, Amber Alerts and missing person's issued for adults. I can't find anything for a girl named Karai" Detective Jenifer Sullivan reassured her friend, Anthony Jones was someone she had known since high school and when he showed up at her office claiming his son's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend, he didn't seem too clear on the relationship status, had been kidnapped she got to work. She was a private investigator, so she does this stuff for a living, therefor not finding anything was starting to frustrate her.

"So Casey lied," Anthony muttered

"You don't know that. Maybe the kidnapper threatened to kill her if the family called the police" Jennifer suggested but her friend only scoffed.

"No, my son's a horrible liar when he's under pressure, he came up with that story on the spot to save his ass after he told me she's in jail. I'd bet you twenty bucks that's where she is." He insisted but Jenifer only shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well then pay up because she's not there," she said and Anthony was completely dumbfounded by that.

"What?" He asked

"I checked everything with every juvenile detention facility and prison in the state as well as records on prisoner's sent out of state within the past month, your girl Karai wasn't there." Jennifer explained and for a moment it was quiet, Anthony processing and trying to make sense of what he just heard.

"So she gave Casey a fake name? Or he made one up?" He finally asked but his friend only shrugged.

"It's possible, I think you should talk to Casey." She said and Anthony just sighed

"He's going to hate me when he finds out I talked to you" he pointed out but Jennifer's expression still didn't change.

"He'll get over it. Besides if he's lying about something, make sure he knows he doesn't have to" she advised.


	9. We Need A Plan

Donnie said that Justin should learn how to walk ASAP, but that wasn't exactly what was happening. With it having been over a week since they lost Karai to Shredder and there was still no word from the turtles, and since he didn't have a plan himself, Casey decided that it was time he focused on getting Justin up to speed with his age group. The kid had crawling down, Karai was able to make sure of that, and he had improved within the last week. He's movements were no longer slow and clunky, like he was just stumbling around on his hands and knees. Now he knew what he was doing and moved very quickly, walking was another story. It seemed like no matter how many hours Casey and his sister spent pulling the little boy to his feet he just couldn't stand up, never mind take a step.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll get it" April encouraged when she was over at her friend's apartment and he began telling her about his son's learning block.

"So am I, what I'm worried about is when." Casey admitted; the two of them were sitting on the couch talking while Justin and Angel were playing in Angel's room.

For a nine-year-old Angel was turning out to be a pretty good aunt. She loves Justin, and because she's so young herself entertaining him is as much of a game for her as it is for him. They play in her room with all her stuffed animals and racecars and it can be hours before Casey hears either of them whining, she get's tired of it eventually but all in all Casey's glad to have her help.

"Casey he was practically mindless for the first year and a half of his life, which right now is all but one week. I know that most kids his age are walking by now but he'll learn, just give him time." The red head advised and when Casey sighed she took it as reluctance, which it was, but she had no idea what he was biting back. "Why don't you bring him to the lair tomorrow, the guys are part of his family to." She suggested and once again Casey responded with a sigh.

"Yeah, sounds good" he gave in.

April looked sympathetically at her friend; he's taking this hard. She never realized that Casey and Karai were friends, she had only ever seen them talking once or twice before this whole mess started. But it was obvious that he was worrying about her, not just because she's Justin's mother or because she's his friend's sister, but because she's his friend. She can tell that he honestly cares about Karai, maybe even more than he's willing to admit, and for whatever reason that doesn't sit right with her.

"I've gotta go, I have a dentist appointment. I'll see you later" she said before leaving the apartment not to go to the dentist, but to see if the guys have come up with a plan yet.

* * *

Unfortunately the answer April received was _no._ A week and still the turtles had nothing. This isn't like them, normally Leo would be spitting out suggestion after suggestion, itching to go and get Karai. Raph's normally pushing for a full on assault, but this time he's not. Splinter's always been hesitant when it comes to his daughter, and April can only assume it's because he doesn't want to feel the heartbreak when they lose her again. But this time he's actively helping Leo and Raph with the plans.

"How did you guys get her out last time?" April finally asks Donnie from where she sits on the edge of his desk.

"With a lot of luck. But it's different this time April, and honestly I don't know if we can handle it." He answered, sounding frustrated.

"What do you mean? Why can't you-?" But then April stops, because she gets it. Karai won't break her deal, won't endanger her son, a rescue mission is futile. So the plan is to assassinate Shredder. Take him out and get Karai before the rest of the Foot clan can kill them. That's why they don't have a plan, because when you get down to it they're putting off making one. They're just kids, only a month past sixteen, they shouldn't be meditating a murder.

"I told Casey to bring Justin by tomorrow" she said, trying to get off the subject of their yet to be formulated plan. "I'm sorry I just thought-" she began when Donnie sighed in response to her but he then cut her off.

"No it's a great idea, really it is," he said, forcing a smile upon his face.

* * *

When Mr. Jones arrived home from work that night he found his two children watching a movie in the living room along with his grandson, though Casey was the only one awake. Angel was curled up in the armchair, her usual seat. While Casey was lying on the couch looking desperately at his father when he walked in while his own son lay asleep on top of him.

"Help" the teenage boy whispered loudly and his father chuckled.

"You used to do the same thing to your mother and me" he laughed

"Well I'm sorry, now I can't breathe so would you please get this kid off me?" He begged and again his father chuckled but he still went and lifted the little boy from Casey.

"Thanks" Casey said as he sat up and took a deep breath, thankful to once again have oxygen in his lungs.

His father handed Justin back to him before sitting down himself, his face long like he had something on his mind.

"Everything ok dad?" Casey asked, Justin woke up during their little hand off but had no complaints so he just sat there contently in his father's lap and slowly began drifting back off to sleep.

Mr. Jones gave a sigh before answering his son, he knew that there was no way this would go over well.

"I saw Jennifer Sullivan today" he said

"Oh yeah? What's she up to?" Casey questioned, he had met his dad's friend Jennifer a couple of times, from what he knew he liked her. She hadn't been around much the past couple years, been busy probably, but Casey figured he'd still be able to pick her out in a crowd.

"She's been good, she's a private investigator now." His father said, getting only a nod from his son who still wasn't catching on to WHY he had gone and seen Jen.

"Cool, what made her go for that? I know she was training to be like a homicide detective or something?" Casey questioned

"Oh you know Jen, can't deal to well with rules. I think she figured being a P.I. lets her be her own boss" Mr. Jones answered and Casey nodded with a chuckle, he knew that was probably the case. "Anyway Casey, I asked her to look into the disappearance of your girlfriend" he began and Casey's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"You what?!" He demanded

"Casey if a girl was taken off the side of the road-" Mr. Jones began

"Dad just… just hang on, I'm gonna put Justin to bed." Casey jumped in, noting how Justin was sound asleep and using it as an excuse to buy himself some time.

He got up and walked down the hall to his bedroom, and once inside he kicked the door closed before gently lying Justin down in the playpen. Making a mental not that he really needed to go and get an actual crib at some point he backed up against the door and slid down to the ground.

"Oh man, what am I gonna do?" He quietly asked himself. He couldn't tell his father to stop looking, because who in there right mind would say that? "Maybe it's not so bad" Casey whispered to himself, "He's doing this by the law, he won't find any mutants." He continued to say to himself before he pulled himself back to his feet and returned to the living room where his dad was still sitting on the couch. "So did she… did she find anything?" Casey questioned as he sat back down, coughing to clear his throat.

"No, but it would've helped if she had Karai's last name" he said

Casey didn't know what to do. He wants his dad's help, he wants Jennifer's help, and he wants to go and get Shredder arrested and bring Karai home. But that can't happen without compromising the turtles. If he gives them a last name, Hamato or Oroku, then it will lead Jennifer to the fire and to Miwa, and sooner or later she'll put two and two together. He could always give her a fake name, but when she finds no records whatsoever she'll know he's lying.

"Casey, she checked into amber alerts, alerts for missing adults, prison and juvenile sentencing within the past month. She couldn't find the name Karai anywhere" his father pressed and Casey only sighed, he'd be extremely lucky to worm his way out of this one. "Casey, who is this girl?" His father finally questioned, his voice much more gentle then what Casey was expecting.

"She's a ghost," he finally said with a sigh. "Not literally of course but as far as the world is concerned she doesn't exist anymore. Karai isn't her real name, but it's the one she gave me. You can check any kind of records you want but the only thing you MIGHT find is some kind of immigration papers for a seventeen-year-old Japanese girl named Oroku Karai, but like I said that girl doesn't exist. Dad, believe me I want to tell you what happened, I want to tell you everything, but I can't." He began but his father only frowned.

"Casey-" He started

"Dad please" the teenager begged, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Please I'm scared out of my mind about this. I don't know if she's dead or alive and it's killing me. Every minute I'm awake I'm thinking about her, and when I'm asleep I'm having nightmares about her sitting in a cage somewhere. Look I know I'm not making any sense and I know it would make sense to report her missing, but you gotta trust me that doing that would only make things worse for her family." He was begging now with tears leaking out of his eyes, but his father's expression only hardened.

"What's her family hiding from?" He questioned skeptically.

"The man who has her" Casey confessed, "I know what you're thinking, but no one in her family would ever hurt her." He assured his father.

"Casey if this man is so bad then that's exactly why we need to involve the police" His father insisted but Casey only shook his head.

"You don't get it dad, and I wish I could tell you but I can't. But if we call the police then yeah the guy goes to jail, but Karai will be put into state custody because her mom's dead and her dad's missing too." He explained; that actually wasn't a total lie considering Hamato Yoshi disappeared from the world sixteen years ago.

"Wait so this guy took her and her dad?" Mr. Jones questioned and Casey nodded

"But they're not in the same place, we know that." He said

"And by we you mean you and her brother?" Mr. Jones asked and again Casey gave a nod.

"He's staying at a friend's right now" Casey lied; realizing that so far he had only implied that Karai only has one brother and he figured that he better keep it that way. "Look they've been using fake names their whole lives, hiding from this guy. But the second he gets word of the cops, even if it's when they're busting down his door; he'll kill them both. So please just stop looking," he pleaded.

"Casey, a young girl and her father are in the hands of a madman, and you're asking me to do nothing?" He demanded and, wiping away the last of his tears, Casey sighed.

"I'm going to see her brother tomorrow, I'll talk to him. But please dad, for right now, please don't do anything" he begged and reluctantly his father nodded.

"Ok" he agreed.

* * *

It was another night of quietly crying to herself. Karai missed her father, she missed her brother's, she missed her son most of all, and a small part of her even missed Casey Jones. Even before they found themselves tied together by a child, though that wasn't much time, the time they were together they seemed to be on the track to becoming friends. They didn't talk too much, but Karai couldn't remember him telling a joke she didn't find funny, nor could she remember him ever being cold towards her like O'Neil was at the beginning. Casey was accepting; he acted like her past didn't exist. She could remember her first few days at the lair, Casey wasn't around much but when he was she remembered him watching her. She knew he was adjusting to her, trying to figure out her personality and once he realized she took better to sarcasm then April did, that was all he needed. He treated her similarly to the way he treats Raph, with blunt jabs at any of her flaws, which she was always quick to counter. They were becoming friends, and Karai liked to believe that had she been able to stay they would've stayed on that path. But now she'll never know. Now she'll spend the rest of her life stuck in here, with her every thought being made of her family being almost enough to kill her.

Almost.

It's not enough, because for some reason she keeps the hope that somehow she'll see her son again. She'll hold him in her arms again, and she'll listen to Mikey's eccentric babbling, she'll go deal with Raph after he hits his breaking point, and she'll yell at Casey for letting getting himself and their son into trouble again. Someday, somehow, she prays that she will see them again.

* * *

It was late at night, and normally Jennifer was in bed by now. But on this particular night she had decided to stay up and watch a movie. It was a good thing to because despite the late hour a knock sounded on her door and when she opened it she found none other than Anthony Jones standing before her.

"Hey" he greeted awkwardly

"Heeyy" she drawled out, leaning against the doorway as she crossed her arms. "Did you talk to Casey?" She questioned and her old friend nodded.

"Yeah, I told him that I had spoken with you and he flipped out" Anthony began to explain.

"And after that?" Jennifer asked

"He lied" Anthony continued, "He told me that he knew Karai was a fake name and that this girl has used it all her life to hide from this man who took her. He told me that the man also took her father and that her brother is staying with a friend. He said that the reason the police haven't been contacted is because this man doesn't care about getting arrested, if authorities are brought into this then he will kill both the girl and her father." He explained but Jen eyed him with skepticism.

"And this sounded suspicious to you?" She questioned

"He told me, he continuously told me, that there's something he can't tell me. Aside from that last week when he first told me about the kidnapping he mentioned her brother then said her entire family was worried." He said but Jen rolled her eyes.

"Tony the father could've still been with them at that point, and if this man is really going to murder them the minute authorities get involved then I can understand Casey's reluctance to call." She said

"Jen, please. My son is hiding something, after he and Nick stopped speaking he didn't have much of a social life outside of hockey so when he started hanging out with that O'Neil girl I didn't ask questions about where they were or what they were doing. But it wasn't until he met her that he started keeping secrets" he finished.

"Tony, what do you think your son's hiding?" Jen asked

"I don't know" Tony admitted, "but that's why I'm here, begging you to find out."


	10. Closer and Closer

Bringing Justin over to the lair was proving to not be the best idea. So far he had crawled off the directions of the bedrooms a total of five times, the first time he made it to his destination, which was Karai's room, and sat outside her door whining.

"Mmm… ma...mm" he gurgled, looking up at his father who had fallowed him to see where he was going.

"Sorry Justin but mama's not here" he said sadly as he picked up his son and brought him back to the living room.

After four more attempts by Justin to get into his mother's room Raph finally opened the door after he and Casey chased the little boy down for the last time.

"See? She's not here" Raph said bluntly, Casey lifted his son from the ground but remained in the doorway to allow the boy a glance into the bedroom. For the most part it was empty, just a mattress with some worn blankets pushed up against the back wall and when Raph flicked on the light Casey noticed that said light was just a bulb with a red lantern covering over it dangling in the center of the room. He also noticed that beside the disheveled bed was a busted up coffee table with Karai's make-up and a few earrings scattered across its surface, aside from this stuff and a trash bag filled with clothes over in the far corner the room was empty.

Casey had heard that Mikey's been sleeping in here, but looking at the messy blankets he wished it was Karai who messed them up. A part of him wondered if the room was like this when she was here, if she made her bed or just left it a mess like Mikey does. He could only hope that someday he'd know the answer, someday he'd be able to knock on the door for whatever reason and she'd answer. Someday, and someday soon, she would be home.

Raph soon closed the door and the boys returned to the living room, much to the displeasure of Justin. But he eventually accepted that his mother was not here and ended up playing with Mikey. With his youngest brother entertaining Justin Raph pulled Casey into the dojo, where Leo, Splinter, and Donnie were waiting.

"What's going on?" The hockey player asked, nervous that he had been pulled in here so his friends and their father could punish him for losing Karai to Shredder.

"We've got a plan," Donnie announced.

* * *

At first Jen was hesitant to look into this, she trusts Casey and knows that he's a good kid, he's made his fair share of mistakes but at the end of the day he does the right thing. But Anthony seems worried and really there's no harm in checking into it, as his father's friend she should make sure that he's ok and actually isn't mixed up in anything illegal.

Anthony gave her the last name for Karai, Oroku. Jennifer wasn't sure what she'd find but she checked everything she could think of and so far it looked like Casey was right, Karai is a ghost. She has no social media account on any website, and when Jen dug deeper which included a few calls to the immigration center, she couldn't find much more than a record of the girl having come over with her father a year ago.

One year ago.

Casey told his father that he hooked up with this girl two years ago but that's not possible, she was still living in Japan. At first Jen thought she might have the wrong girl, but her gut kept telling her to follow this lead. The girl's father was named Oroku Saki, and there was a little more information on him. He was raised just outside of Tokyo in a town called Chiba. In 1996 he was a suspect in a suspected act of arson when his adoptive brother's house burned down, killing both his brother's wife and daughter. He was let go on the grounds that there was no evidence to say he was anywhere near the house that night, not that his alibi that he was alone taking a walk through the woods was exactly solid. But there was no mention that he had a daughter, or a son for that matter. Even stranger Karai's passport states that she's seventeen, meaning she was born in the year 1996. But according to the newspaper article she was reading the fire occurred in September when Karai's passport lists her birthday as being in February. Something about that didn't sit right with Jen, why would Saki commit such a heinous crime if he had a little girl at home? Sure the world is full of bad people, but if what Casey told his father is true and Karai has no mother then why would Saki risk his daughter being taken from him. Suddenly Jen got an idea and looked up any information on Miwa she could find. It didn't take long and when she compared the birthdays of the two girls she found that they were born only days apart, she also found that Miwa's body was never recovered from the ash.

"How did no one ever notice that?" She muttered to herself, her heart was racing; she almost couldn't believe what this evidence was pointing her towards.

As Jen continued reading she found that Hamato Yoshi, Miwa's father, disappeared after the fire and no one has seen him since. This had to be it. The man that Karai and her obviously younger brother have been running from their whole lives is Yoshi!

As Jen tried to calm her racing mind she put together a theory; Saki found Miwa and believed Yoshi died along with his wife in the fire, therefor he took Miwa and passed her off as his own in order to keep her. At some point he had a son, now Yoshi has returned and is out for revenge on Saki. He's kidnapped both Karai and Saki. But that still leaves two huge holes in the story; who actually started the fire and how the hell did Casey manage to knock up a girl a year before he could've ever met her?

Jen decided that the first question could wait.

It's possible that the baby isn't really Casey's, and he's only covering for his friend. But Anthony had shown Jen a picture of the little boy and he sure as hell looks like Casey, especially Casey as a baby. He's definitely the age they claim he is, there's no way he's younger than a year. Jen shook her head as she tried to figure it out, then remembered Anthony had mentioned that Casey's secrets started when he met April O'Neil, maybe she could shed some light on Justin's impossible parentage.

* * *

"I thought you guys said you have a plan!?" Casey exclaimed after Leo finished explaining their so-called plan.

"We do, we just went through it genius" Raph said

"Letting Karai sit there and rot is not a plan!" Casey shouted; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"And that's not what we're doing" Leo insisted, trying to keep his voice calm. "But the Kraang are gearing up for an invasion and we need to focus on that" he continued

"So what! You're seriously going to stick rescuing your sister on the back burner!?" Casey demanded

"Not at all" Splinter said, "The Kraang and Shredder have formed an alliance, the day of the invasion is the day when security at Shredder's hideout will be at it's weakest. We will save Karai, but we must be patient." He continued and Casey nodded, he nodded reluctantly but he nodded.

"We don't know what the Kraang are planning yet but whatever it is the plan is for Raph, Donnie, Mikey, April, and you to handle it while Sensei and I sneak into Foot headquarters." Leo explained but Casey's face contorted into anger and he shook his head.

"No way. I'm the idiot who got Karai into this mess, I'm going with you to get her out." He said

"Absolutely not!" Splinter nearly shouted which caught everyone off guard, not that they would've expected him to like the idea but none of them thought it would make him this defensive. "It is bad enough that I must ask you to fight against the Kraang, I cannot allow you to follow Leonardo and I into the clutches of the Shredder!" He scolded and if Splinter's outburst caught everyone off-guard Casey's response to it was a total blindside.

He fought back. The hockey player, the hockey player with an apparent death wish, crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at the ninja master before him.

"I'm not asking permission," he said and the three turtles present in the room looked at him in complete shock before turning to their Sensei and waiting for things to go from bad to worse.

Splinter glared at Casey for a moment before he began to stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"Very well" he agreed and everyone, Casey included, stared at him in shock.

But Splinter paid no mind to this and simply got up and retreated to his room, leaving Casey and the other's to wonder what exactly just happened.

* * *

"Hi, um, are you looking for my dad?" April awkwardly questioned when a knock came from her front door and she opened it to find an African-American woman who, although looked friendly enough, looked like she would work in the same office building as Mr. O'Neil.

"No, my name Jennifer Sullivan, I'm a private investigator and I believe I am looking for you miss O'Neil" the woman said, taking out what looked to be a legitimate P.I. license and showing it to April. Regardless, April leaned one shoulder against the doorframe as she crossed her arms, after everything that's happened to her in the past almost two years she knows better than to let a supposed P.I. into her apartment.

"I was wondering if you could tell me something about your friend Casey Jones?" She asked and April's brow furrowed at this, Casey? This is about Casey?

"Uh, why don't you come in?" April offered, finally moving and allowing the woman inside, not completely sure if it was actually a safe idea or not.

April led her guest into the living room and the two of them went and sat on the couch.

"So what's this about Casey and if you don't me asking who hired you?" She asked skeptically.

"While I am not able to tell you who hired me I can assure you that it's someone who is only concerned for Casey's well-being. Now I understand he recently learned that he's a father?" She asked and April nodded, her fear of the situation only growing.

"Yeah, kid from a one night stand I think." She answered, she didn't know if maybe Shredder had hired this woman as a means of getting to Justin or if it was the Kraang looking for their experiment; but either way she wasn't saying anything.

"So I'm assuming you've never met the child's mother?" The woman asked and April shook her head.

"Nope, never" she hoped she was a better liar than she thought right now.

But it didn't look like it because although Jennifer said nothing about it, it didn't look like she believed what the red head was saying.

"Uh-huh" Jennifer said, clearly not believing the teenager before her. "Listen April, I think that this girl could be in real trouble and so could her family so if you know anything it would be very helpful if you told me." She said and April nodded but sighed.

"I'm sorry but I just don't know anything. Casey and me weren't friends two years ago," she said

"Well if you hear anything please give me a call" Jennifer said before handing April her business card, then leaving the apartment.


	11. Some Lose Those They Love

"You're spying on me!?" Casey furiously demanded as he burst through the door of his apartment. About a half hour ago he got a call from April saying that a private investigator named Jennifer Sullivan had come to see her and had asked about Karai, that was all Casey needed to know.

He told April he knew what was going on and that he'd take care of it, and boy did he plan to. Immediately after getting the call he had gathered up Justin and set out for home.

When he burst through the door he found his dad watching the news and his sister was nowhere in sight.

"It's not spying Casey, I'm genuinely worried about your girlfriend." His father said with a sigh.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Casey nearly shouted as he readjusted his grip on Justin. "And she's none of your business either!" He exclaimed although in all fairness he knew that he was being unfair. As far as his dad's concerned Karai was kidnapped off the side of the rode, he has every right to look into it.

"None of my business!?" His father exclaimed incredulously, standing up and marching over so he was face to face with his teenage son. "What are you going to do Casey, if on day Justin comes home from school and tells you his friend was snatched right off the playground? What are you going to do when your son tells you that he's scared but he can't say why? Huh? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" Mr. Jones demanded, by now Justin was crying and Casey was pretty close to doing the same thing. "I don't know what the hell it is you're mixed up in Casey, and I don't know what you're lying about anymore." Mr. Jones said with a frustrated sigh, completely ignoring the fact that Justin was sobbing extremely loudly. "You're a good kid Casey, and it's no secret that you've been the one raising your sister since your mom left. But whatever's going on with you… maybe Karai was right" he said and now, even with Justin beginning to calm down, Casey knew that tears were pricking in the corners of his own eyes.

"What, what do you mean?" He stuttered out but he didn't need to ask, he knew exactly what his father meant.

"She told you she didn't think she could take care of Justin anymore, maybe she was right. If she knew this guy was after her and she knew she couldn't protect Justin anymore then she was right to consider giving him up." Mr. Jones elaborated and Casey felt his heart freeze in his chest.

"Dad, dad no that's not…" he trailed off; he couldn't finish because really, what could he say?

Mr. Jones placed a hand on the Casey's shoulder and sighed

"Whatever's going on, I think it's best you get your son out of harms way. Even if it means not being a part of his life." He said firmly.

* * *

Just like he did every night Xever came in and placed Karai's dinner in front of her cell door, he hadn't been bringing her much of Tiger Claw's slop lately, instead what he had been bringing her the past day or so was actual food. Truthfully Karai had lost track of how many days she'd been in here, they all melted together with no way of telling time aside from her twice daily food rations; and when her breakfast was the same as her supper she had a hard time figuring out which was which. At least now with Xever giving her something different for supper than he did for breakfast she knew if it was morning or night. She figured she had been in here for a little over a week, though it felt like much longer. She still cried herself to sleep every night, or she thought it was night anyway. Every so often she would receive the pleasant surprise of a nice dream in the place of her usual nightmares.

"You know Tiger Claw has already caught me once bringing you actual food, you could at least pretend to be grateful." Her aquatic guard spat, effectively snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, thank you" she said, meeting his eyes maybe for the first time.

Xever was slightly taken back by Karai's words, her voice actually sounded sincere. He was expecting a crack about how pathetic he was for not being able to get a measly bowl of macaroni past Tiger Claw, if he got anything out of her that is.

"So how did your DNA end up in that child anyway?" He asked; he didn't really know why he was bothering to try and start a conversation with Karai. Maybe it was because he was truly curious about the subject, or maybe it was that he felt bad for her. Either way, he asked and she chuckled in response.

"I was standing on top of the mutagen vat before the fight, a piece of my hair or something with my DNA on it fell in." She answered and Xever gave a nod, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"So what happened to your brother?" She asked, stretching her arms over her head before shaking out her stiff muscles.

"He was an idiot. Shot himself up with drugs and we found him dead probably an hour later," Xever said bluntly and for a second time that evening Karai surprised him.

"I'm sorry," she said, her face displaying that she clearly hadn't been expecting the answer she received.

But Xever merely shrugged, he and his brother never had a good relationship. His entire family had been messed up.

"Whose we?" Karai questioned, bringing Xever back to reality. "You said 'we' found him dead, whose we?" She asked again which resulted in a sigh from Xever.

"His girlfriend" he snapped

"Your dirt bag brother had a girlfriend?" Karai questioned and Xever only rolled his eyes.

"She was not much better," he said

"Tell me about her" Karai asked, "come to think of it, I don't know anything about you before Shredder sprung you from that jail cell. How'd you end up there anyway?" She questioned but Xever only huffed.

"Believe me child, you do not want to hear my life's story," he claimed but Karai smirked, and just for a second Xever thought it could actually be the old Karai he was talking to.

"Normally no, I probably wouldn't. But I've been sitting alone in silence for days, I'll take any story you got" she said and Xever sighed, unable to believe he was doing this.

"My brother's name was Marco, he was six when I was born. I never met my father but Marco said I was lucky for that, apparently he left after finding out our mother was pregnant and didn't come back until five years later when he was desperate. But my mother was a fool and took him back, he found out I was on the way and he left again. Our mother died of cancer when I was seven and Marco was thirteen, not that we weren't already on the streets anyway." The mutant fish began, "Marco was a con artist, he played the innocent little boy looking out for his brother on the streets while begging strangers for money, but any money he got he often wasted on his drugs. He drank, smoked, took pills, injected himself with who knows what, basically if it could send his mind away from reality he would take it." Xever continued bitterly.

"I'm sorry, how old is he at this point?" Karai interrupted

"Still thirteen" Xever replied bluntly, almost taking pleasure in the look of horror on Karai's face. "So with my brother turning himself into a mental patient I became a thief, and that is how we lived our lives for two years until Marco met his girlfriend Mariana. She was a runaway; abusive parents. She and my brother were two of a kind, anything that could let her forget her problems she'd take the chance. The difference was that she would try to hide it from me. I always knew of course, but then one day about a year after they met she discovered that she was pregnant." He continued, the memories flooding back to him. Briefly Xever wondered if this was why he had been pitying Karai so much, maybe she reminded him just a little bit of Mariana. "She tried to stop, she knew that her drinking and her drugs weren't good for the baby; but temptation is a powerful thing."

 _They knew it. For weeks they had known it. Mariana said that the baby hardly moved at all throughout her whole pregnancy, Xever had never laid a hand on her stomach but she also was never telling him that he should; that there was something there worth feeling. She would say it like it were a joke, but the seriousness always came through in her voice, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt the baby move. But now they had their proof. Mariana went into labor around two and so they brought her to a local health clinic that took homeless patients, but after hours of her screaming their fears were confirmed; the baby was stillborn._

 _Marco, who had originally claimed that the baby was a mistake, left the room furiously._

"He left her there sobbing," Xever growled, "after a few hours I went looking for him and found him lying dead in the alley, his needle still lodged in his arm. I ran back into the hospital and all I had to do was look at Mariana, and she knew." Xever could hear himself choking up, with sadness or anger he wasn't sure, but even after all these years that night was painful to talk about.

"What happened to Mariana?" Karai finally asked softly

"She tried to look out for me, she stopped with the drugs and everything else. But eventually we grew apart, I haven't seen her in a long time." He admitted but Karai knew what he really meant by 'grew apart', he felt guilty and after awhile he left.

* * *

Casey was thankful Justin was willing to sleep, because he was losing it. He didn't know what to do; he just wanted to huddle in a ball in the corner of the room and cry. But the noise of that would wake Justin and so he instead opted to quietly pace around his room. This whole thing is getting out of hand; he can't keep lying to his dad like this.

"He just doesn't understand. If he knew the truth…" Casey began to whisper to himself but he trailed off, would his father knowing change anything.

 _Hey dad, you want the truth? Fine, my son is an alien experiment whose mother has been kidnapped by the evil ninja master who raised her and we're planning on busting her out when the aliens invade with the help of said ninja master!_

Sighing as he leaned against his door and slid to the ground Casey looked over at his little boy who was sleeping peacefully in his playpen.

"Mom was right Justin, who am I kidding? You're better off with someone else," he said and with that he silently began to cry.

* * *

The more Xever thought about it, the more he realized it was true; Karai does remind him of Mariana. Maybe not all the time, maybe not before, but ever since they captured her it's all he's seen. Mariana was always shooting her mouth off, always screaming and swearing. She was tough and anyone who ever messed with her got what they deserved.

Then she lost her baby.

She named him Gabriel, and after she lost him she became quiet. He still remembers rushing in to tell her of his brother's death all too clearly. The girl who had taken down men twice her petite size, the girl who hadn't even glanced at her boyfriend when he did nothing to comfort her over the loss of their son, the girl who would freeze the instant anyone showed her any affection; had opened up her arms and with her eyes begged him to crawl into her embrace.

He spent that night in her hospital bed with her, though neither of them slept. After that the two of them buried Gabriel and Marco, Mariana's only peace coming in the thought that Marco was looking after their child. They returned to their hideout and after that Mariana became much like Karai these days, very withdrawn. He was never sure how much of her apparent depression was caused by the grief from losing both her boyfriend and son and how much was due to her decision to quit drinking, smoking, and drugs cold turkey and all at once. But he did his best to help her, and after a long while she did appear to improve. But even when all seemed great Xever could remember hearing her cry in the middle of the night and when he was fifteen and Mariana had branched out and met someone new, someone better than his brother, he decided that he could no longer remain and remind her of her past. So he packed up one night, and he left.

Now he was here, guarding a girl no older than Mariana had been, who was sitting here constantly tormented by the thoughts of how her little boy was alive, but growing up without her.

He shook his head; this is an entirely different situation. But still, if Karai must be forced to remain in this jail cell in order to assure her son's safety then he might as well make sure that the boy is in fact safe.


	12. Breaking Point

The turtles had only recently started going back on their nightly patrols, and although they knew it was only a matter of time before they ran into the Foot Clan they didn't think it'd be this soon. But that night, just as they were finishing up their patrol, they found Fishface on a rooftop.

"You!" Raph growled, whipping out his Sais without a second thought. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face!" He shouted, his anger boiling.

"Easy turtles" Fishface responded before tossing an object their way. Leo caught the object and turned it over in his hands, discovering that it was a phone. "Karai has been very cooperative since coming to stay with us, I believe she has earned a message from home." He said and for a moment all four turtles look over in complete shock at his actions. "Do not make me regret this! And say nothing that would force me to hand the recording over to Shredder!" He threatened.

* * *

The only reason Casey was up so early was because he couldn't sleep. Justin slept, but then again Justin usually sleeps. He's still sleeping now, since it is only six in the morning. But Casey's up, he's dressed, and he had all of Justin's things gathered into an old sports bag that was on his back. The only thing left to do is grab his son without waking him, and walk to the nearest police station. He wasn't sure where exactly you're supposed to bring a kid when giving them up, and the Internet wasn't very helpful. But he does know that it's legal to leave a baby at a police station and that's good enough for Casey.

Being extremely careful not to wake Justin, Casey lifted him out of the playpen and for just a moment held the little boy against his chest.

"I'm sorry" he murmured and with that he exited his room with every intention on slipping out of the apartment unnoticed, but he forgot how early Angel wakes up for her cartoons.

"Where ya going?" His sister's voice nearly scared him half to death, as he failed to notice her sitting on the couch.

He turned around very apprehensively, his sister seeming not to notice the fear on his face one bit. She sat there with an inquisitive glare directed at him, their father's over-sized t-shirt hanging loosely off her small body; indicating that her laundry needs to be done. It was moments like this, where Casey is reminded that she's his LITTLE sister; he can't lie to her.

"I'm uh… I'm dropping Justin off with someone else." He confessed but Angel's confusion only seemed to grow.

"When's he coming back?" She questioned and Casey felt his heart plummet. Of course she would ask that, she wouldn't ask who he was leaving Justin with, she would ask when he'll be returning.

"He's, he's not Angel" Casey admitted and the heartbroken look of betrayal on his sister's face was enough to make Casey question his actions.

"What?" Angel finally questioned, tears beginning to pool in her brown eyes.

"Oh don't give me that Angel, look I know you think having a baby around is all fun and games but guess what? It isn't!" He exclaimed, effectively waking Justin. Casey rolled his eyes and groaned at the sight of his son awake, but figured at least he wasn't crying yet and frankly it was his own stupid fault for raising his voice.

He was waiting for Angel to argue, or cry, or both. He was prepared to tell her she was wrong, prepared to tell her to shut up, the she doesn't understand. Each and every one of those defenses would have worked against her next comment, but Casey was too taken back by it to even think of saying anything.

Angel looked up at her brother with watery eyes as she allowed her anger to overtake her.

"You're just like mom!" She shouted before getting up and stomping off to her room.

* * *

Xever came with her breakfast, a stale chocolate chip muffin. But with it he left her a phone and Karai couldn't help but look curiously at him.

"Don't even think about calling for help, those features have been disabled." He spat at her.

"So what's it for?" Karai asked, more confused than ever.

"There's a recording for you" Xever responded before exiting the room.

Confused Karai neglected her breakfast for the time being and began searching through the phone; it didn't take her long to find the only video recorded on it. At first she just stared skeptically at it, the still frame it was paused on was an image of Leo. Tapping the play button Karai watched the video with interest, curious as to what Shredder had done to her brother's that he so desperately needed her to see.

"Uh, hi Karai" Leo began awkwardly, "so I don't know if you're actually going to get this or not but we miss you" he continued before the phone was stolen by Mikey.

"We miss you SO MUCH sis! Master Splinter does too, and Raph even though he won't admit it." The youngest turtle continued which made Karai giggle, especially when Raph appeared on the screen behind Mikey and knocked his little brother on the back of the head.

"Hope you're holding up alright Karai" the red banded turtle said as if he didn't really care if she was or not, but Karai knew that he cared. Just then Donnie took the phone, and fumbled it in his hands for a minute or two, before his face came into focus.

"Sorry we don't have Justin with us, we didn't exactly get advanced notice on this. Casey's trying to get him walking but he's had some sort of mental block, he really misses you." The genius turtles said before handing the phone back to Leo.

"I hope you get this Karai and I hope you're ok, we all miss you, bye." The leader said solemnly and with that the recording ended.

Karai was never one to get emotional, and she didn't plan on starting now. But this small recording from her family, she didn't know how much such a thing could mean to her and yet she found herself feeling something she didn't think she ever would, she found herself hopeful. She would never break her deal with Shredder, not so long as he held up his end of the bargain. But still, she found herself truly believing that someday, somehow, she would go home with her brothers and she would see her son again.

* * *

Angel was in her room pouting, it just isn't right! Casey is the one who held her when their mom left, the one who cursed the woman's name every time it was spoken in his presence. But here he was, abandoning his own son!

Just then her door cracked open, and in slipped Casey.

"You leave Justin on the side of the road yet?" Angel spat at him, watching him with a death glare as he closed her door behind him and entered the room.

"Relax, he's with dad," he said, taking a seat beside his little sister on the edge of her bed.

"No!" Angel protested, shoving her brother off the bed. "I don't want you near me!" She exclaimed, Casey got off the floor with a frown and stood before his sister.

"Angel I can't take care of Justin" he tried to explain but she wouldn't hear of it.

"Yes you can!" She shouted, "You take care of me, you can take care of him!" She exclaimed

"That's different and you know it!" Casey retorted "you could take care of yourself if you needed to, Justin's still a baby! Besides I'm your brother, but to Justin I'm supposed to be his dad and guess what? I don't know how to do that!" Casey screamed; he was tired of this. Tired of pretending that he knew what he was doing, tired of acting like he can do this. Bottom line is he can't. He's always exceeded in failing, always has preformed below average, despite what his over confidence might suggest. His whole life he's barely met any sort of extremely low expectations of him, how in the hell is he supposed to raise a kid? Something even kids his age that have everything else going right struggle to do.

Angel sniffled and wiped her tears with her wrist "but you always told me that mom's a coward" she whimpered and with a huff Casey dared to sit beside his sister again, surprisingly she let him.

"Yeah well, I was mad" he admitted. "I always thought that mom left because you and me weren't what she wanted, I mean she'd ask me to do something and half the time I'd just stare at her cause I didn't understand the words. Then you came along and she was all excited that she had a little girl" he began and Angel smiled evilly.

"But she got a little devil!" She said with a slight laugh. Casey knew that it hurt Angel, their mother always had this perfect image of what her daughter would be and Angel was the exact opposite; but to an extent she did take pride in that. Knowing that at least part of her pride was genuine Casey smiled and ruffled his sister's hair, not wanting to delve into deeper matters at the moment.

"Right, anyway Justin's got me thinking; maybe there's more to mom leaving than we know about. Maybe she actually had a reason." Casey suggested but Angel didn't look convinced.

"When mom left daddy told me that he understood why but when I asked him he said that it doesn't matter, because when your kids are born you make a choice; one you should never take back no matter what." She said, her eyes pleading with Casey to listen to their father's advice.

* * *

Jen knew this was a bad idea. She should've gone to the police, or at least informed Anthony on what she'd found. But no, instead she decided for some god-forsaken reason that she was going to track down and confront Oroku Saki herself. Finding him wasn't that hard and before Jen knew it she was knocking on the front doors of an old church.

It was only a few minutes, but it was one agonizingly slow few minutes. When the door finally opened Jen found herself looking up at a tall man wearing a business suit, half his face scared and one of his eyes glazed over.

"May I help you?" The man asked in a cold voice.

Jen gulped down her fear, "Um Mr. Oroku is it?" She asked, ok so maybe she didn't gulp down all of her fear.

"Yes" the man responded in his grave voice.

"I'm here about a recently reopened case involving you back in Japan, I understand that you have a daughter?" She asked, believing herself to sound more confident than she did previously.

"What about your 'case' concerns my daughter?" Mr. Oroku demanded coldly, sending a chill up Jennifer's spine.

"It's just that some investigator's found it suspicious that you were charged in the murder of a baby girl seventeen years ago when the body was never found and your own daughter is listed as being only four days younger than the baby." She said and when she did the eyes of the man before her narrowed and seemed to pierce through her very soul.

"Who sent you?" He demanded and if Jen didn't know any better she'd think that Mr. Oroku was imagining his rather large hand gripping her neck like a vice until the air had completely left her body.

"Someone with the safety of that girl in mind" she said with every ounce of courage she had in her body.

Oroku Saki glared daggers down at the woman before him before finally exhaling his breath and answering her question.

"As I told the investigators seventeen years ago, I was walking through the forest in order to clear my head at the time of the fire and was too late to save Tang Shen or her daughter" and with that said he slammed the door in Jennifer's face.

* * *

It was too soon to be supper, and that door slam was much too loud to be Xever. Karai snapped up her head as Shredder stormed into the dungeon looking furious. Without hesitation he swung open the door to her cell and slammed it shut behind him.

"Hey, what's going-?" But that was all the very confused teenager had time to say before her former master grabbed her by her shirt collar and yanked her up to his height.

"I thought you knew better than to break a deal with me Karai," he growled as she struggled against him.

"What are you-?" She started but again he cut her off, this time by throwing her back against the wall.

"Now, who have you been talking to?" The armored man demanded as he gave his knuckles a sinister _crack._

"I haven't been talking to anyone" Karai spat as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Have it your way" Shredder declared, then he struck.

He swung his gauntlet for the side of her face, but Karai dodged the attack. She knew better than to fight against Shredder, especially when they were confined to the limited space of a cage. She decided it be best if she just dodged all his attacks, but turns out that action only made him angrier. He roared in anger, and Karai took slight pride in her ability to generate such a reaction from the Shredder. However the joy was short lived because right at that moment Shredder landed a hit into her shoulder, which sent the teen flying back into the wall for a second time, only this time she lost something. Xever's phone, the phone he had given her with the turtle's message on it, fell from her pocket.

Karai registered the clattering of the phone hitting the stone floor, she also knew that she quite possibly could die if she didn't hurry up and grab the phone before Shredder laid eyes on it. But it was too late. By the time she picked up her head and before she could even think of reaching out for the phone Shredder was looming over her, the small black object in his hand.

For a moment he just stared down at it, he didn't bother to turn it on but just looked at it. Karai watched him with baited breath; her eyes wide with terror of what he would do. But she wouldn't rat out Xever, he was kind to her and had made her time her in the dungeon bearable; she wouldn't thank him by selling him out. Finally Shredder curled his hand into a fist around the phone, but didn't once glance at Karai.

"You will watch that child die," he said coldly.


	13. Before the Storm

Karai felt her blood run cold. Shredder turned to leave, his mind already plotting the execution of her baby.

"No" She pleaded as tears started to form in her eyes, "no, no, no, no!" She called, scrambling towards the cell door as Shredder shut it in her face. "No, wait no!" She begged, now gripping the bars and pulling on them desperately. "NO!" She screamed, tears lacing her voice. But Shredder was gone, and Karai hit her knees. "No, no, no, no, no" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself as she let out an agonizing scream of desperation.

* * *

Xever didn't know what was going on when his boss stormed into the dungeon, and he didn't ask. But he did listen to every word of the exchange between the former father and daughter when suddenly the next room fell silent; and then he heard the threat.

"You will watch that child die," Shredder stated, and Xever knew that his boss was serious.

What happened next was almost a blur to the mutant fish; Shredder stormed out and the next thing he heard was Karai crying loudly in her cell. For a moment he hesitated, wondering how quickly he would perish for committing a deed as treasonous as the one he was currently planning out. His common sense told him to forget it, that Karai is nothing but a bratty teenager who had betrayed her clan. But the memories of his brother's girlfriend still plagued his mind. He remembered how Mariana was so quiet after the loss of her son; truthfully he doubted much pain stemmed from the loss of his brother. But he remembered hearing her cry in the middle of the night, almost every night. He remembered how he could visibly see that every time she got up she was forcing herself to do so. Looking back on it Xever realized just how much she pushed herself through; without her drugs not only did she throw away her way to escape but all her other problems must have come crashing down back onto her shoulders; it's a wonder she didn't kill herself. He let out a sigh of defeat; he would've done anything to bring Gabriel back to Mariana but he just couldn't. Now, however, he can help Karai.

"I must be out of my mind," he grumbled before he decided that it was now or never, so he entered the room that contained Karai's cell.

The sight that Xever was met with was by far the scariest sight yet. Karai was screaming, the sounds escaping her mouth feral and strangled by sobs. She was on her feet, something Xever did not expect, and yanking on the bars as if her life depended on her ability to rip the iron door right off it's hinges. But of course it's not her life that hangs in the balance, but her son's.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Xever tried to shout over Karai but she looked as if she didn't even hear him. She just kept pulling on the bars, desperately yanking at them even though she knew that no matter how long she pulled they would never break free.

"Karai!" Xever tried again but it was no use, in fact it may have even made things worse. Karai let out a louder, even more feral sounding, scream before she suddenly quieted and sunk to her knees.

She doubled over with tears streaming violently down her face as she sobbed and Xever just stared down at her with a completely blank face before he took his key and unlocked the door.

The sound of the tumblers in the lock moving got Karai's attention. She looked up but found that she could see nothing through the tears clouding her vision so she wiped them away and was met with the sight of Xever opening the door. She looked at him quizzically; why was he opening the door?

"If I were you I would get going" he said and for a moment Karai just stayed where she was, completely stunned. But eventually she wiped away what remained of her tears and shakily got to her feet, wondering if maybe this was some kind of test. She half expected Xever to slam the door right back in her face, but he didn't.

Slowly and cautiously she stepped out of the cell and once she was out Xever closed the door.

"Just so you know you don't stand a chance against Shredder, and as much as you deserve to sit and rot in this cell and rot, your son deserves the chance for his mother to at least try and save him." The mutant explained as he locked the now empty cell. Truthfully he didn't believe that, he knew that Karai was right to run from Shredder; that she was right to hate him. It's also true that she doesn't stand a chance, fighting Shredder, but with her son on the line Xever knows that somehow she'll find a way to escape.

"Thank you" Karai said, her eyes now dry but her face still a fading red color and completely stunned by what he was doing.

"Just remember that if you survive, you owe me one. Now get out of here before I change my mind." He said and with that and a small smile that she was trying to hide Karai bolted off.

* * *

"Come on Justin" Casey groaned, after his conversation with his sister he decided that maybe she was right; maybe he can do this.

Putting it into perspective he realized that both Shredder and The Kraang know about Justin and giving him up would only make it easier for them to find him. They'd be able to track him down, if he stays then that way Casey knows he'll be able to protect him. The main problem actually has nothing to do with Justin, but with Karai. He needs to get his dad and Jen to stop investigating before it's too late. But as for Justin, he can handle him. So presently he's at the lair, bent over down in the pit as he tries again to get his son to walk with Raph sitting on the couch making sarcastic remarks about every five minutes. Justin's gotten better; he's at least grasped the concept of standing now.

"Come on Justin just move your foot" the frustrated teenager instructed, after what felt like forever but was only a few minutes of standing here completely bent over Casey's back was starting to ache and it was getting on his nerves.

"Just put one foot in front of the other-" Mikey began to sing from almost a room away before being cut off by both Raph and Casey.

"Mikey!" They snapped in unison, Mikey had been singing that a lot in the past week and although it was funny at first it was starting to get on everybody's nerves.

Casey was about to say something else, complain about something, when suddenly they heard footsteps. Immediately both Raph and Casey looked over at the front entrance; where they could hear the footsteps quickly approaching.

"How'd anyone get past Donnie's security?" Casey questioned as Raph got up, already spinning his Sais around his green hands.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out" he said before stalking over to the turnstiles.

Casey knew he should've moved, picked Justin up and gotten the hell out of that room, but for whatever reason he didn't. He and his son both stood there, rooted in their spots as if their feet were glued to the floor. The footsteps were getting closer, and they were moving fast. Labored breathing now accompanied them and it became apparent that there was only one person. Suddenly Raph's hard expression turned to shock,

"What-?" But that was all he managed to get out before, of all people, Karai came into view and hopped over the turnstiles. She completely blew past Raph as she bolted into the living area.

"Karai?!" Casey exclaimed, completely bewildered. He was thrilled to see her, he really was, and it felt like a huge weight was just lifted off his heart. But at the same time he couldn't help but wonder how it was that she was back here.

Karai didn't stop running until she reached the pit, and when she did she slid onto her knees and came to a halt right in front of Justin who immediately released his grip on his father's fingers and latched his hands onto her shoulders. Casey watched as Karai buried her head in the little boy's shoulder and held him tightly against her, and he decided that the question of how she was here could wait. He knelt down as he heard a strangled gasp of breath escape her mouth, she was crying. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder Karai looked up to see the hockey player offering her a small smile before reaching out and gently wiping away one of her tears with his thumb.

Casey had no idea what came over him. Especially after their last conversation (that wasn't initiated by their son's kidnapping) he really should've known better than to think she'd actually let him wipe away her tears. But something just washed over him and the same thing must have washed over her because she actually let him go through with the small gesture and even gave him the slightest ghost of a grateful smile in return.

"It's ok, you're home now." He said to her and her response to that shocked him more than anything. He didn't know what exactly he expected; in fact he didn't expect anything at all. But Karai unwound one of her arms from Justin and used it to pull Casey into their hug. Putting the shock aside it felt nice and he didn't even hesitate to hug her back.

"Karai's back!" Mikey's voice suddenly exclaimed; the youngest turtle had entered the room unnoticed at some point during the little reunion. With a small laugh Karai released Casey and Justin and got to her feet, just in time for Mikey to come up behind her and lift her off the ground.

Karai couldn't help but laugh as her little brother picked her up and spun her around, despite the battle they were about to face she couldn't help but let Mikey's infectious joy get to her.

"How did you escape?" Leo questioned as he, Donnie, and April entered the room just as Mikey finally placed their sister back on the ground. A small smile had been playing on Leo's lips, how could it not? But it quickly dissipated when Karai's face turned grave.

"Shredder broke his word, his coming after Justin." She confessed

"What?" Casey gasped

"Why?!" Raph growled almost at the exact same time.

"I don't know, he stormed into the dungeon screaming about me breaking the deal and talking to someone. But I don't know what he was talking about, I didn't talk to anyone." Karai panted her explanation, the fact that she had spent the past couple hours practically sprinting through the city finally hitting her.

"It's Shredder, he probably just said that so he'd have an excuse to come murder us." Raph theorized but Karai shook her head.

"I don't think so. The deal I made was for Justin's safety, he never would've agreed to yours. I figured he'd break the deal eventually but not like this, he seemed legitimately convinced that I contacted someone." She said and April glanced over at Casey.

"What about Fishface? He let us send you that message, and stupidly we did, do you think he set you up?" Leo suggested, slightly ashamed of the fact that his missing Karai and giving into the recording idea could be what set her son up for death.

But Karai shook her head, "I don't think so. At first Shredder just came in to rough me up-" she started but Casey cut her off.

"He beat you?!" The boy demanded, his hands curling into fists at his sides as an angry fire engulfed his eyes.

"He didn't see the phone until after that, but he never turned it on and saw the recording." Karai continued; her only indication that she had heard Casey was her voice rising at the very start of her sentence.

"Casey? You don't think Jennifer went after Shredder, do you?" April asked and if Casey reacted at all, his anger only grew stronger.

"Who's Jennifer?" Karai questioned while lifting her son into her arms

"One of my dad's friends" Casey seethed, he hadn't thought of it but now that April said it he was more than sure that Jen was the cause of this. "She's a private investigator and when I had to tell him that you were kidnapped-" he began but Karai cut him off.

"You what?" She demanded, her eyes flashing with danger.

"Look I'm sorry! But you didn't exactly leave me much of a choice!" Casey exploded

"Well sorry to inconvenience you! But you could've told him I left willingly" Karai snapped back

"And when you came back? He'd hate you and tell me to keep Justin away from you!" Casey argued

"So what? What does it matter what your father thinks of me?" Karai demanded and when Casey didn't respond everyone realized just how quiet the rest of the room actually was. Everyone was watching Casey and when he noticed that he just huffed and stomped out.

"Forget it!" He called over his shoulder

"Where are you going?" A voice demanded, Splinter's voice. It caused everyone to jump, for they had not realized that their father and mentor was standing at the base of the steps coming from the dojo.

"I'm going home," Casey finally answered but Splinter shook his head

"No you are not. The Shredder knows that you are Justin's father or at the very least knows that Miwa trusts you with him. He will go after you Casey, so for the time being you and Justin are to remain here." He decided and although Casey growled in response he knew Splinter was right.

"I'm sitting outside then" The hockey player amended and with that he trudged out of the lair.

It was quiet for another minute or two before Karai broke the silence by asking April to take Justin and handing him off to the red head, much to the baby's dismay.

"I'll be right back," Karai giggled before placing a kiss on her son's forehead and walking out of the lair, leaving the other's to stare after her.

"So does that mean she's going to have emotions from now on?" Raph joked as they watched their normally tough as nails sister walk away.

"Does that mean you're next?" Leo retorted which earned him a slap from his hotheaded brother.

* * *

Karai found Casey sitting just around the corner from the turnstiles and ended up taking a seat next to him.

"Great, you come out here to yell at me some more?" The boy demanded but Karai wasn't fazed by his anger.

"Actually I came out here for my answer, why do you care what your dad thinks of me?" She asked him, she sincerely wanted to hear the answer to this because really she couldn't imagine why he would.

Casey shrugged at the question but Karai noted how he refused to make eye contact with her, he just stared ahead blankly.

"Justin was not created in a conventional way," He stated bluntly

"Which is exactly why your dad's opinion of me shouldn't matter" Karai interrupted "I mean I know we were going to try and be friends but I didn't exactly imagine ever going over your apartment unless it was just to grab Justin or drop him off, and even then I probably wouldn't leave the doorway." She continued but she almost regretted it when he looked at her with… well it was a look she couldn't place but he looked almost like he was upset that she thought that would be the extent of her friendship, and secretly she was to.

"Ok that aside, I've told my dad that, you know you and I…" he trailed off awkwardly but Karai nodded.

"Yeah, thanks." She said, never in her life did Karai believe she would ever thank someone for lying about something as serious as knocking her up but under the circumstances such a lie is actually better than the truth.

"But I don't want that to be my dad's, or anyone's, whole opinion of you. Like while you were captured Angel had to bring Justin to my hockey practice" He began to explain

"Angel?" Karai interrupted

"My little sister" Casey said dismissively "but anyway because of that all the guys on the team now know I have a son and they keep saying 'hey bring the baby mama around sometime' or 'hey when are we gonna meet the girl you knocked up?'" He continued

"Hey I told you you could walk away, you had the chance to preserve your social life then-" Karai snapped but Casey cut her off.

"I'm not talking about me! Believe it or not Karai I actually care about you, and before you start yelling again I cared about you before Justin came into our lives. I care what people think of you because I care about you and when my friends refer to you simply as 'the girl I knocked up' it pisses me off and I literally just want to punch a hole through the nearest wall!" Casey seethed, the rage was overtaking his veins and he was so focused on it that he didn't even notice the contemplative look on Karai's face before she smiled, he only noticed when she planted a kiss on his cheek.

Instantly his anger melted away and was replaced by complete and utter shock as he stared at Karai with unbelieving eyes. Karai didn't look entirely sure of herself, but her small smile showed that she didn't regret her unexpected actions.

"I'm not great at saying thank you, or used to having people who care about me." She explained awkwardly and Casey only chuckled.

"So we're good?" He asked and Karai smiled

"We're good," she agreed.

"Good because whether Shredder's after us or not I think raising this kid is going to take us both," Casey commented with a laugh.


	14. The Call

"So did you find anything?" Mr. Jones asked his friend when she arrived at his apartment that day.

"I did but… it doesn't make sense" Jennifer answered

"What do you mean?" Anthony asked and Jen sighed

"First off Casey lied about the girl's father being missing, I went to his address and spoke with him today." She explained and Anthony let out a sigh of frustration, "and that's only the beginning" Jen admitted and with her friend looking at her expectantly she continued. "I looked into Oroku Karai, the girl Casey claims doesn't exist. She's a seventeen-year-old immigrant from Tokyo Japan who came here with her father Oroku Saki, Saki was a suspect in and arson case back in Japan in 1996 where a woman named Tang Shen was killed along with her seven month old daughter Miwa whereas her husband Hamato Yoshi disappeared" She explained but stopped when she noted that her friend appeared lost.

"Ok, Jen, what does any of this have to do with Casey?" He questioned

"I'm still trying to figure that out, but he told you that Karai's mother passed away so I did some digging and I couldn't find her-" Jen began but Anthony cut her off.

"Well obviously you can't find a dead woman," He said

"No I mean there's no record that she ever existed. Karai doesn't even have a birth certificate; it's likely that Saki bribed someone in order to get her into the country. But I looked into Miwa and not only was her body never found but she and Karai were born only a few days apart, Miwa was born on February first, Karai was born on the third." She explained

"So hang on, let's see if I got this right; you think that Oroku Saki burned down this house which effectively killed Tang Shen and maybe Hamato Yoshi but then stole the baby?" Anthony questioned, it sounded ridiculous but when Jen nodded never in his life had Anthony seen her so serious.

"I also don't think Yoshi died, I think he's the one who kidnapped Karai. He wants his daughter back and clearly is willing to go to any means necessary to get her. Tony this girl is in trouble, we have to go to the police." She said and after a moment of thought Anthony nodded

"Ok" he agreed.

* * *

"I'm going to kill Jen" Casey muttered as he came back into the lair and slumped onto the couch at Karai's feet. She went back inside a few minutes after their conversation but he had stayed on the steps a few minutes longer.

"Don't kill anyone" Karai said, "It's bad enough one of us was behind bars" she joked; she was lying on the couch with Justin on top of her resting his head on her chest. She had the TV on but she was sure Justin wasn't paying any attention to it, as he was quite content to just play with her hand.

Casey smirked in response to her "fair enough, hey do you want me to move him? Cause I can't breathe when he lays on me like that." Casey offered but Karai simply smiled.

"I'm good thanks," she said

"Are you sure?" Casey asked skeptically

"Casey' I've spent almost two weeks crying every night because I thought I was never going to see him again, I don't care if he's crushing my lungs." She said and Casey smiled before that smile turned into a frown.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his eyes downcast and refusing to meet Karai's.

"For what?" She asked

"For everything. Losing Justin to Shredder and then for being so useless, I mean if I was a better fighter you wouldn't have made that deal in the first place." He said

"Casey, Splinter is the only fair match for Shredder, even all seven of us combined wouldn't be able to take him down." Karai pointed out but it did little to help Casey so she tried to change the subject, though she wasn't sure if this new topic was any better. "Why don't you call your dad? Let him know you're staying at a friends for a couple of days?" She suggested and Casey nodded as he pulled out his phone and dialed the number. "I'd better let him know you're alright too," he said as he listened to the ringing on the other end before, finally, his father picked up.

Anthony Jones was hesitant, but he was just about to dial the police, when his phone began ringing and his son's picture appeared. After a moment of hesitation, and wondering if this was some sort of sign or not, he answered the call.

"Hello" he said

"Hey dad, look something's come up and Justin and I are going to be staying with a friend for a while" Casey said on the other end

"What? Why? What's happened?" Anthony demanded in alarm

Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Casey was pacing the room bitterly thinking that the answer to his father's question was that HE had put his nose and his friend's nose where they don't belong; and now Justin is in real danger.

"Nothing dad, just… just" he couldn't help but stutter, he had no idea what he could say to his father. There was literally nothing that the man would believe at this point.

"Hey" Karai suddenly whispered, causing Casey to turn and look at her, his expression beyond confused. "Ask him if his friend's around" she said and although Casey had no idea why he was listening to her he did as Karai asked.

"Uh dad, is Jen with you?" He questioned his father

"Yes she is, Casey what's going on?" His dad demanded on the other end but Casey simply took the phone from his ear for a moment instead of answering.

"Yeah she's there," he whispered to Karai

"It's just the two of them in the apartment?" She asked

"What are you getting at?!" Casey demanded but Karai rolled her eyes, indicating that the two of them were not along the same train of thought.

"Just ask," she loudly whispered and Casey rolled his eyes but did like she said.

"Dad, are you guys alone?" He questioned

"What does that matter Casey?!" His father bellowed on the other end, sounding very offended and suggesting that his thoughts aliened with Casey's.

"Dad" Casey whined; his voice coated with slight embarrassment.

"Yes Casey, if you must know your sister is at her friend Eliza's apartment and Jennifer stopped by to see me. Now for the final time tell me what's going on and where you are!" Mr. Jones demanded, clearly losing patients with all this.

"Yeah, they're alone" The hockey player whispered to Karai who by now had sat up as best she could with Justin still on her chest, which basically meant she had managed to prop her head up.

"Tell him to put it on speaker" she instructed, shaking her right hand out of Justin's grip and soothing his now annoyed state of mind by rubbing her left one up and down his back.

"What?" Casey asked, now completely lost in where she was going with this.

"Just do it" Karai instructed and when Casey realized that she was reaching for the phone with her right hand he was hesitant, but eventually put it back up to his ear.

"Alright dad, just please put the phone on speaker first" he requested.

* * *

Mr. Jones was confused by his son's request, but he obliged and put the phone on speaker.

"Ok Casey it's on speaker" he said and over the other end at first it was only static that he and Jen heard, as if the phone were being put down or handed off. Briefly, Mr. Jones wondered if Casey about to hang up on them, but then a girl's voice came on the other end.

"Hi, it's Karai" she introduced herself and for a moment Mr. Jones's heart froze in his chest while Jennifer's plummeted into her stomach as the thought that Casey and Justin could've been abducted crossed her mind. "Casey's with me, I'm home thanks to Jen," she said and when they heard that both Anthony and Jen breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Wait but I don't understand, what happened?" Jen questioned and they could just hear how hesitant Karai was on the other end.

"Karai, that man who took you…do you, do you know who he really was?" Mr. Jones questioned, doubting that Karai knew the truth about her parentage.

"Oroku Saki" she answered, sounding almost confused.

"Wait Oroku Saki kidnapped you? But, wait so who do you live with?" Jen questioned

"My father" the girl on the other end stated matter-of-factly

"Your father as in Hamato Yoshi? Wait you know about the fire?" Jen asked.

* * *

Karai's eyes widened on the other end of the phone; "you know about the fire?" She demanded, before glaring at Casey who shook his head with his eyes bugging out of his head, indicating that he hadn't been the one to tell Jen about the fire.

Panic overtook Karai, if Casey hadn't told then how did Jen find out?

"Yeah, when I was looking for you I found the news article on it but I thought Yoshi was the one who kidnapped you?" Jen asked more than explained and briefly Karai turned the phone into her shoulder.

"What are we-?" Casey started to ask but Karai cut him off.

"We have to tell them" She said, her face dead serious.

"What? I mean we can trust them, we can don't get me wrong, but are you sure?" He asked although frankly telling them would solve almost every single one of their problems.

"No but, if we don't even if we take down Shredder they could still bring me to child services and not only will I be taken away but so could Justin." She admitted and the fear in her eyes inspired determination in his and that was all the confidence Karai needed.

"No, I live with my father, Hamato Yoshi. Saki kidnapped me as a baby but I found out the truth about two months ago and ran away to live with my father. Look I know running away isn't the way something like that should be handled but there are... extenuating circumstances" she admitted, still trying to avoid the topic of mutation and alien conspiracy if at all possible.

"Karai, what's going on? Where are you? Where's your father?" Jen demanded before the voice of Casey's father cut in.

"Karai, I know you and your father are scared, but whatever this man did to you-" he began to tell her gently but Casey cut him off.

"Dad you can't call the police. And it's not that we don't want to tell you why or even that we can't it's just…" He began but he trailed off as he tried to think of the right words.

"You wouldn't believe us if we did" Karai cut in.

The other end was quiet for a second, as if the two adults were contemplating on whether they actually would believe the teens or not.

"What wouldn't we believe?" Jen finally asked and Casey and Karai exchanged glances but before either of them could say anything Raph's voice echoed throughout the room.

"What are you two doing?!" He demanded, the surprise of his voice caused both Casey and Karai to jump, or Casey anyways since Karai couldn't. Neither of them knew how long he had been standing in the doorway but clearly it was long enough for him to realize that they were about admit the secret of the lair, the turtles, and Master Splinter to Casey's father and Jennifer.

"Who's that? Kids whose there with you?" Jen's panicked voice interrogated as Raph marched over to his sister and best friend.

"My brother-" Karai started to explain before Raph cut her off by swiping the phone from her hand.

"Listen to me. Both Casey and Karai are fine and if it makes you feel better then by all means get the cops involved, they'll never find us anyway!" He shouted into the phone before angrily turning it off and glaring daggers at Casey.

"You. Come with me. Now." He demanded before putting a tight grip on his friend's bicep.

"Raph telling his dad was my idea!" Karai tried to say but Raph only looked over his shoulder at her for a minute with a death glare.

"I'll deal with you later princess," he growled before yanking Casey out of the room and not even stopping when they marched through the kitchen and Mikey and Leo questioned what was happening.

They didn't stop until they reached Raph's room and the furious turtle practically threw Casey onto his bed before slamming the door closed behind him. Casey stumbled back as Raph released his harsh grip and felt the back of his legs brush against the edge of the turtle's mattress. He stood to face Raph, feeling that sitting on the bed only helped in giving him the appearance of a child about to be scolded.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" The furious turtle demanded; Casey found it a miracle that he hadn't been skinned alive yet.

"What's wrong with us? What's wrong with us is that we're trying to keep my dad from calling the cops, taking away your sister because as far as they're concerned she has no family, and even possibly taking away my son!" The hockey player shouted back at Raph.

"The cops will never find Karai down here and you know it Jones" Raph pointed out but Casey didn't let up.

"Who says she's always going to be down here? She's not like you guys; she doesn't have to hide! So unless she plans to hide down her for another seven months until she turns eighteen someone will find her when she's on the surface and bring her in; because YOU just told my dad to call the police!" Casey screamed and for a moment Raph looked hurt, and maybe that was because Casey inadvertently reminded him that he's not like the rest of the world; that he lives down here because he's hiding.

But any offence Raph felt was soon turned to anger when his eyes narrowed and he found himself lunging forward, grabbing his best friend by the collar of his shirt and holding him up against the bedroom wall.

"Listen Casey, I understand that Justin is your kid and lying to your dad about everything is hard and all, but it's not just Karai and Justin on the line here. If you tell your dad and his stupid friend about us and they hand us over; that's the end of us! I don't exactly know or care what's going on with you and Karai right now but you're making each other stupid!" The turtle exclaimed before releasing his grip and allowing Casey's feet to once again make contact with the floor, not that he eased up at all on his death glare. "We can take care of each other; but sell us out and there might not be anyone left to take care of." He said, his voice softening just a little. He then basically threw Casey out of the bedroom as quickly and harshly as he had brought him in.

Casey made his way back to the living room, feeling slightly guilty, and thinking that he should warn Karai of what's in store for her if Raph truly does plan to deal with her later. He found her almost right where he had left her; the only difference being that instead of lying on the couch she was now standing over it. He didn't need to ask what she was doing; he could see their son's hands up above his head grasping the TV remote and the diaper in Karai's hand. What confused him though was the look of panic on her face, though he figured she was maybe just worried about Raph.

"Well Raph's pissed" Casey said bluntly as he approached the two

"I'll talk to him later" Karai replied distractedly; "hey um… so please don't ever tell anyone I asked you this but, uh, Justin only needed one diaper change before I was, you know, taken away. And it happened while I was in the shower so April dealt with it…" Karai tried to explain and it took all of Casey's self control not to burst out laughing when he realized what she was getting at.

"Wait, do you really not know how to change a diaper?" He asked although to be fair he wasn't being fair. Karai had grown up as an only child, and with Shredder of all people for a father, he highly doubted she had been around many babies in her life.

"Don't be ridiculous of course I know how to change a diaper," she snapped at him but then her face turned beat red with embarrassment as she continued, in a much softer and somewhat humiliated voice. "You know, a girl's diaper," she admitted, avoiding eye contact at all cost. At first Casey only blinked before he understood what she meant and WHY such a thing made sense, then he just smirked at her.

"You know, somehow, that actually makes me feel better" he commented but Karai only rolled her eyes, though she didn't bother hiding the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Just show me how to change him," she groaned.

* * *

Xever let out a grunt of pain as his skull collided with the wall of Shredder's throne room. His head pounded as he just barely managed to get back on his robotic feet only to find his dark master looming over him.

"How did she escape?!" The Shredder demanded of his minion

"I don't know" Xever insisted for the umpteenth time that evening, "I brought in her supper and the cage was empty!" He continued to lie, praying to god that Shredder was buying it.

"Argh!" Shredder growled with one final strike to the side of Xever's face before he trudged back to his throne.

"Should we hunt her and the child down Master?" Tiger Claw questioned, he had been standing off in the corner watching with pleasure as one of his fellow mutants got what he so clearly deserved.

"There's no need. If nothing else The Kraang's invasion will force them out of hiding, then I will have my vengeance" the dark, twisted man growled, determined to get his daughter back on his side even if it meant resorting to this level of manipulating her fear.


	15. Confessions and Lullabies

Casey was sleeping on the lair's couch that night, and honestly he loved finally being able to sleep at night. For the past few weeks his every night had been filled with waking up every hour either with his son crying or his own nightmares. But tonight his mind was, for once, at ease and Justin was sleeping in Karai's room with her. He had gotten a text from is father not long after he left Raph's room, his dad said that so long as they were safe he was going to trust whatever's going on they'll be ok and won't involve the police, so long as he promises to contact him if whatever they're dealing with gets out of hand. At this point that was the best news Casey could've gotten and he was almost asleep when he heard someone approaching behind him.

Sitting up and whirling around the hockey player found Splinter walking by and making his way to the entrance of the pit.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to wake you" Splinter said though something told Casey that Splinter had in fact meant to wake him.

"I wasn't sleeping" he responded as Splinter took a seat next to him.

"I just wanted to assure you Casey that it was not your fault Karai found herself in the clutches of the Shredder again." Splinter said but this only evoked an expression of confusion from Casey, he thought that conversation was long buried. "However you were right when you said you lack the proper training to face enemies who rank higher up in the Foot. I have been refusing to acknowledge it but… you are as involved in this war as the rest of us. I believe it would be wise for you to train alongside your friends." The rat continued and Casey could not believe what he was hearing; he had never imagined he would be offered the chance to train in Ninjistu and, quite frankly, he isn't sure he wants to. He taught himself to fight; hell he taught himself how to do just about everything he knows. He learned to make his weapons by thinking about when he was a kid and his dad the electrician was fixing their apartment; how he'd watch everything his father did. Incidentally his dad is half the reason he's so stubborn, his father was always telling him that he needed to know how to do things himself. But at the same time he has to learn from somewhere, and in this case cartoons (which is where he picked up how to fight) just aren't going to cut it.

"When do I start?" He finally asked after his moment of thought.

* * *

As the days passed Casey trained both one on one with Splinter and with the others. It was exhausting and equally frustrating but he was determined to learn, however after he got his ass handed to him in one sparring match by Mikey Splinter should've known better than to pair the frustrated boy against Raph.

The two hot heads circled each other for a moment, Raph expertly gripping his Sais while Casey drew back his hockey stick.

"You know most ninjas don't fight with sports equipment," Raph mocked

"What happened to anything can be a weapon?" Casey shot back and Raph smirked before he charged and began the fight, it was not a long fight.

Raph had Casey pinned in one minute flat, standing on the boy's back while he held his arms twisted back at a painful angel.

"You give up yet Jones?" Raph taunted as Casey struggled to break free

"Never!" He shouted but Raph only rolled his eyes

"Come on you couldn't even beat Mikey" He commented and at that Casey growled and only began thrashing about even more before he finally accepted his defeat.

"Alright, I give" he declared and with that Raph released his grip and held out a hand to help him up, which of course Casey rejected.

"Casey, you will face Leonardo next," Splinter decided but Raph rolled his eyes.

"No offence Sensei but Casey hasn't even come close to winning against any of us, and no offence Jones but you fall for the same traps every time." Raph said

"I'm still learning ok!" Casey exclaimed

"Well you need to learn faster" Raph snapped, he knew the comment would anger his friend, but he didn't expect the tight fists that his hands curled into or the roaring balls of fire in each of his eyes.

"I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth

"Well try harder, because sooner or later you're going to have to face the Foot Clan again and at this rate they'll eat you alive" Raph snapped and again he knew he was riling up the anger in his friend, but again he didn't expect the reaction he got.

As much as Casey would love to say that he had no idea what came over him, as much as he would love to say his actions were purely on impulse and that he didn't mean it; that would be a lie. He could feel the rage coursing through is veins, the pure anger flowing through him as Raph's words hit him, and he thought his action through very carefully. He knew it was a bad idea, he knew he shouldn't do it, but it was worth it. It was worth the harsh scolding he would undoubtedly receive, it was worth the high amount of guilt he would feel; it was all worth it. So without a moment's hesitation he drew back his arm the launched it forward, and he punched Raph square in the jaw.

All eyes turned to Raph as he stumbled backwards, then to Casey, as he simply stood rooted in his spot before throwing his hockey stick to the ground and marching out of the dojo.

* * *

"I know you're frustrated but what you did in there wasn't ok" Karai said when she found Casey sitting outside the lair, moping as far as she could tell.

Casey glanced up at the girl standing behind him; she was still wearing her sling so she must be planning to return to training. He wasn't the only one learning a new fighting style; Karai had fashioned a baby sling out of an old purple blanket and wore it everyday during training so she would be able to fight with Justin, god forbid she ever need to. Of course she never actually put Justin in it during training, instead she used an old doll with a brick stuffed inside it for weight. The only time she ever put Justin in the sling was when she first made it she had placed him inside to make sure it was big enough, she had already tested the weight with a couple of bricks.

As she sat down next to him Casey noticed that the sling was empty, so maybe she wasn't planning on going back.

"So are you going to tell me why you hit Raph or are you just going to sit here and pout?" She questioned with a small, joking smile, but Casey merely turned away.

"It's my fault that Justin can't figure out how to walk" he sighed, catching Karai way off guard.

"What?" She asked, leaning over to try and get a look at Casey's face but he avoided her gaze. "Casey Justin's learning block isn't your fault" she insisted but Casey only sighed before finally looking her in the eyes.

"Yes it is. I have dyslexia and a couple other things that I'm not even sure what they are, that stuff is hereditary. Then Raph keeps telling me to learn faster but… I just can't," He confessed

"Why don't you tell them?" Karai suggested

"Because I don't want them knowing!" Casey suddenly snapped before calming himself, "you don't know what's like Karai. I walk around the halls at school; I blend right it with everybody else. But then I walk into a special room where there's only about five other kids, all the kids on this side of Manhattan and there's only six of us in _The Program_ " He continued, using air quotes when he spoke about this program he was apparently in.

"What's The Program?" Karai inquired but Casey only shrugged

"I don't know, it's a room where all six of us spend our last period in a special study hall. They say the teachers know how to teach us but there's only two of them, ones a Science teacher and ones an English teacher so if we need help with anything else they send us off to a tutor, which is how I met April." He confessed and Karai picked up on the trace of guilt in his voice.

"April doesn't know does she?" She asked and just as expected Casey shook his head

"She gets frustrated when I can't understand a single thing she's said but I can't help it, all those math symbols and equations just look like gibberish to me. Look I know I should tell the others, especially for when they're trying to teach me something, but I just can't." He admitted and Karai was quiet for a minute, trying to figure out why Casey was telling her any of this if he didn't want people knowing. She supposed it was because of Justin, he was afraid that their son would struggle the way he did.

"Hey" she said with a genuine smile, "whether you tell them or not is up to you but it doesn't matter how fast or slow you pick stuff up, because you're always there when we need you and if Justin ends up being anything like you I think he's going to be just fine" she said, placing her hand on top of Casey's out of some comforting instinct, which Casey acknowledged but out of fear of making the situation awkward said and did nothing.

* * *

The next couple days passed, well saying easily would be a lie. First there was Raph; he was mad enough that Casey and Karai had tried to spill the secret of the lair and their family to Casey's father and Jen, throw in the fact that Casey lost his temper and punched him and you were left with a VERY ticked off Raphael. Then too make matters more complicated around the lair Justin got sick. He had a fever and was throwing up anything they fed him so for about a week his parents threw all hope of teaching him to walk out the window; he was enough trouble without that. Like all sick young children he did NOT want to be left alone, be it his mother or his father he didn't care but at least one of his parents had to stay with him at all times.

"Did you try feeding him?" Casey groaned from the couch one night as Karai paced back and fourth in the pit with Justin in her arms.

"He's not hungry" she responded, it was nearing midnight and although Justin hadn't thrown up in hours he still had a fever and he did not want to sleep.

"Well did you-?" Casey began but he was cut off

"Yes Casey I tried, and before you ask I tried changing his diaper but he was fine. He doesn't need anything he just wants to be held" Karai snapped "sorry" she quickly apologized, she knew she was letting her exhaustion get to her and the fact that being cooped up in the lair for so long was making both her and Casey restless, while Justin didn't seem to mind, didn't help either.

"I know, I know. I just wish there was something we could do" Casey said, knowing as well as Karai did that nothing was going to settle Justin. He wasn't crying, which was good, he was just being really fussy.

"I just wish he would let me sit down" Karai scoffed, they had learned early on that Justin liked moving so he had only been content for so long when he was sitting on the couch with Karai, but soon he got even more fussy and didn't tone it down until she got up and started pacing nearly an hour ago.

"Here" Casey said, getting up and taking Justin from her so she could take his seat on the couch.

"Thanks" she returned

"Ugh, did we try singing to him?" Casey asked and Karai chuckled

"Sort of. You started to but then you got all embarrassed and stopped, not that it was helping anyway" she reminded him and Casey wondered how tired he was because really he shouldn't have forgotten that.

"Well why don't you try?" He suggested

"Not a lot of lullabies in the Foot, I don't know any" she excused and Casey scoffed.

"Oh bull Karai, you don't even know a nursery rhyme?" He challenged

"Hey, no swearing in front of the baby" Karai scolded, attempting to change the topic but Casey rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't count if I don't say the other word after it, for all he knows I was talking about the animal" Casey defended

"As opposed to what comes out of it?" Karai asked with an amused smirk and Casey frowned.

"You're changing the subject, didn't you ever hear anything on TV or something?" He questioned and this time Karai took a minute to think about it, realizing that there was one lullaby she actually does know and remember.

"One, but it's not much help considering he doesn't know Japanese," she said

"He's a baby, he's not exactly clear on English either. Besides your whole family speaks Japanese, he's going to learn it sometime" Casey answered and at first Karai had no response, Casey didn't know it but she had actually never heard anyone in her family aside from her father and Leo speak Japanese; she thought only Leo spoke it because he's such a kiss up.

"Come on just try it" Casey practically begged and Karai didn't know what possessed her to do this, but she got up and agreed.

"This is stupid," she grumbled as she once again took Justin from Casey and began pacing the floor again, this time murmuring one of the only Japanese melodies she knew. "ねんねしなねんねしな! 私の良い赤ちゃんの睡眠! どこで私の男の子の赤ちゃん" Karai's quiet voice only quieted more with each word she said and in the end she stopped about halfway through the song, now she knew why Casey became so embarrassed when he tried singing earlier, it's humiliating. "It's not working" she said and although Casey rolled his eyes he didn't make a comment.

* * *

The rest of what turned out to be about a month passed uneventfully. Once Justin got better, and after passing his illness to his mother and it took her a couple days to get over it, he finally figured out how to walk. Although this was great it also meant that someone had to constantly be watching him because like all children he's very curious, and curiosity killed the cat.

"Hey stay away from that!" Karai scolded her son one morning when she found him standing in front of the couch, trying to grasp something only Mikey would ever leave on the cushions.

She picked him up but he only giggled in delight as he squirmed in her grasp. Karai brought him closer in an attempt to keep him from squirming out of her arms but that proved to be a mistake when he toppled himself over her shoulder. Thinking fast Karai bent over and wrapped her arms around her back as she tried to stop Justin from falling.

"What are you doing? You're going to drop him on his head!" Casey exclaimed as he entered the room from behind her.

"He did this, just take him!" Karai snapped and quickly Casey ran up behind her and pulled their son off her back.

"Seriously?" Karai commented when she stood up straight and turned around to see that Casey was holding Justin upside-down.

"What? He likes it" he defended and Karai rolled her eyes but before she could even think about lecturing Casey on why he shouldn't hold a child upside down her brother came in from the lab and she sent Mikey a death glare.

"Hey, what have a told you about leaving your nun chucks where Justin can get them?" She demanded

"What!? No way dude! I left them on the couch and him on the ground!" The orange clad turtle defended while the others just glared at him.

"Mikey, he can climb" Casey pointed out while he finally flipped his son upright

"What!?" The turtle exclaimed and Karai only rolled her eyes.

"I need to get out of here," she grumbled, staying down in the lair all hours of the day was starting to get to her more and more. At first she didn't mind; she knew it was the right decision and although Justin wasn't too thrilled with never going to his father's house anymore, having both his parents present definitely helped him adjust to the change. But her content with the less than ideal situation soon got lost and lately Karai was just itching to get back on the surface and fight Shredder.

"What were you guys yelling about a couple minutes ago?" Casey questioned

"Genius over here thinks the answer to our problems is to use his barely working and untested robot" Leo answered, earning a stink eye from Donnie.

"Meanwhile leader boy thinks we should just run away" he argued and this resulted in a another screaming match which was cut short when April came sprinting through the turnstiles, dragging someone behind her.

"Guys, I'm sorry about this," she panted as they all stared in complete and total shock at their friend and, more importantly, the strange girl who was fumbling around the ground for her glasses.

"April, you have brought a stranger into our home." Splinter stated with betrayal lacing his voice, in the commotion none of the others had even noticed him enter the room.

As April tried to stutter out her explanation her friend finally found her glasses and could clearly see the mutants staring at her and began twitching with what everyone assumed was shock.

"Turtles, turtles, turtles" she repeated and it before anyone knew what was happening her voice began to sound robotic and her arms and legs opened up to reveal that they were metallic while the rest of her body transformed into some sort machine, with a Kraang at the helm.

"At last! I, Kraang Subprime, I have found the lair of the turtles!" The little pink alien announced.

"I knew she was an alien!" Casey shouted before, in simple terms, all hell broke loose.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the late update on the chapter. It was supposed to be up last night but it took me a ridiculously long time to get that lullaby translated. I didn't want to write it in English because she was singing in Japanese and my computer apparently hates translations. Anyway for those who are interested the lullaby Karai sang is a Japanese lullaby called "Edo Lullaby" and here are the lyrics.**

 **"Hushabye, Hushabye! My good baby sleep! Where did my boy's baby-sitter go? Beyond that** **mountain, back to her home. As a souvenir from her home, what did you get? A toy drum and a sho flute."**

 **Karai got as far as "Hushabye, Hushabye! My good baby sleep! Were did my boy's baby..."**

 **Also thank you guys so much for the great reviews! I'm so happy i decided to do this rewrite and i'm SO glad so many people like it!**


	16. The Invasion

Portals opened throughout the lair and more Kraang marched in, firing laser blasters and destroying everything in sight. The turtles, Splinter, and humans fought as hard as they could but they nearly stopped when the TV came on in the chaos and starting flashing images of the invasion over taking the surface world.

"No" Mikey muttered in horror as he saw the newsfeed, somewhere off behind him April could be heard commenting on how her best friend turned out to be a Kraang and Karai could be heard shouting for Casey to hand Justin over to her.

But the thing that snapped the young turtle out of his trance was the sound of his father ordering him and his siblings to flee the lair.

"I will hold them off" he insisted after someone Mikey didn't hear began to argue.

Before Mikey knew it Raph was yanking him in the direction of the Shellraiser, which promptly exploded right in front of the group.

"This way!" Leo shouted and the seven teens fled down a tunnel.

* * *

Halfway down they stopped to catch their breath and decide what to do, something that once again resulted in an argument.

"That Mech is too dangerous Donnie and we need to fight the Kraang on the surface!" Leo shouted when Donnie suggested getting the Turtle Mech

"That's what the Mech is for!" Donnie shouted back.

While those two were arguing Karai was busy trying to calm her wailing son who was not pleased with the battle that just transpired, or having to lay in the sling his mother needed to keep him in while she fought. Between Justin and her brother's Karai was starting to get a headache, but she didn't have time to focus on that because right then a portal opened up. It opened right between Leo and Donnie, effectively cutting Leo off from the rest of the group. As Kraang came marching through it the second battle of the morning began and it wasn't long before one of the robots hit Donnie's wrist with its blaster.

"There's too many!" Casey announced as the seven teenagers fought in vain, the overwhelming numbers of aliens coming from the portal making it clear that if their luck didn't change Donnie's injury would not be the last.

"I'll lead them away, get to safety!" Leo ordered

"No, we're not leaving anyone else behind!" Karai shouted back

"It wasn't a suggestion," Leo snapped back and the next thing they knew he was clanging the heads of two downed Kraangdroids together on his swords and shouting as he lead half of the small army away.

"I don't like this" Mikey commented as the rest of them quickly took out the portal and the rest of the robots before hurrying away through a tunnel.

* * *

"Coast is clear" Mikey announced when he peeked out of the manhole cover, however the others took it as a bad sign when he yanked his head down into his shell momentarily. "Whoops, ok now the coast is clear" he amended.

They climbed out of the sewer, Donnie cradling his injured wrist and Mikey desperately dialing Leo's number, while the others surveyed the surrounding city.

"He's not answering!" Mikey panicked

"It's my fault, I never should've argue with Leo, now he's gone." Donnie said; all hope erased from his voice.

"Leo's not-" Karai began but she didn't get to finish as just then another Kraang portal opened up and the six teens found themselves ducking behind a cab.

"I don't think they saw us" April sighed in relief.

"Leo was right, we should've gotten out of the city when we had a chance" He groaned as he sat back against the abandoned car.

"If we go to my apartment we can get my dad and leave the city in his van, we still have a chance." April insisted

"Not without Leo and Splinter" Karai argued

"Karai-" Casey began to argue but he stopped when his blood ran cold. From about a block away they heard a howl, but there are no wolves in Manhattan. Therefor that howl could've only come from one animal, Rahzar.

"We gotta move!" Raph decided.

* * *

They went to April's apartment, where they found Mr. O'Neil in a panic as he paced around the living room.

"The city's overrun! What are we, what is anybody going to do?" He ranted and while Donnie sat on the couch next to Raph with April bandaging his wrist Casey and Mikey sat on the ground watching Mr. O'Neil fall apart.

"April, since it's the end of the world and all, again. I think I should probably just tell you how I feel" Donnie began but April's eyes widened right before she tightened the bandage and Donnie nearly shrieked in pain.

"Oh sorry Donnie, but you should probably stop talking. It just makes things hurt more." The red head apologized and Raph smirked, if that wasn't proof that April knows about his brother's crush and doesn't return the feeling than nothing is.

As Mr. O'Neil started crying, something Raph couldn't believe even such a pathetic man would be reduced to, Justin crawled out of Casey's lap and began toddling over to the couch before coming to a stop at Raph's leg. He bumped right into it, gripping lightly at his Uncle's shin in order to keep himself up. At first Raph just looked dumbfounded at the toddler, wasn't Mikey the one he usually sought out when he wanted someone other than his parents? As much as Raph normally believed that here was proof that today was an exception, today Raph found himself looking really for the first time into Justin's deep brown eyes, they aren't as dark as Casey's but not quite as golden as Karai's either.

"Alright kid" Raph surrendered, leaning over and lifting the little boy onto his lap.

Despite all the time Justin has spent in the lair Raph's never actually just sat with him. Sure he's played with him and stuff, but he's never actually just sat on the couch with him.

Justin leaned against his Uncle's plastron and watched contently, in fact maybe a little too contently, as Mr. O'Neil fainted when Mikey opened up the curtains in an effort to prove that things aren't as bad as they seem.

"Nice Mikey" Casey commented

"Hey where did Karai disappear to?" Donnie questioned

"She said she was going to the bathroom" April answered and on some level everyone thought that maybe she was long gone.

"I'll go knock on the door," Casey volunteered.

* * *

Casey approached the bathroom door; thinking that there was no way Karai was really in there. He should've known she'd run; she was probably halfway across the city by now looking for Leo or maybe even back in the sewers looking for Splinter. But just as he reached the door he heard something that stopped him dead in his tracks, he heard crying.

He could hear her behind the door, sniffling, trying to keep herself quiet. Just imagining her on the other side of the door brought him back to when she gave herself up and how awful he felt then. He raised his hand and knocked on the door, and immediately following this he heard her breath hitch as she realized someone had found her.

"Karai?" He got no response "Karai I'm coming in" he said before turning the knob on the bathroom door, and realizing it was locked. "Karai open the door" he sighed as he jiggled the knob some more. He kept jiggling for a few more seconds before the lock turned and as soon as he released his grip the door opened.

"What?" Karai asked, standing in the doorway annoyed.

At first Casey was mildly impressed, there was almost no evidence that she had been crying save for just a tiny bit of red receding from the corners of her eyes.

"Don't do that," he finally said and Karai looked at him confused.

"Don't do what?" She asked as Casey stepped into the room, effectively backing her up and replacing her hand on the door with his before letting it shut behind him.

"Hide away, stop crying when someone comes after you. Karai we've all been through a lot today, but you've got it the worst. You just got back, and now everything's gone again. I mean Leo was the first of us to ever trust you, even your dad was debating whether or not to tell you the truth or first, and now they're both gone." Casey said, as he spoke he wanted to stop himself because the whole time he was talking he was watching Karai's beautiful golden eyes become surrounded by more and more red.

"If you're trying to make me cry-" Karai started, her voice teetering on the edge of tears.

"I'm not, well I guess maybe I am. I'm just saying that everyone's upset and has a right to be and if you're going to cry no ones going to blame you. Heck April's dad just passed out" he chuckled and despite her now reforming tears Karai gave him a small laugh.

Casey smiled back before pulling the girl before him into a hug. He had to admit that he was surprised when she not only didn't push away but she actually hugged him back, momentarily hiding her face in his shoulder.

"It's going to be ok, Leo and Splinter can handle themselves. We're going to find them and then we're getting out of here, all of us" he said before pulling apart and lifting her chin up so she would look at him, "I promise".

* * *

"Ah! I just had the worst dream! The Kraang were trying to invade again!" Mr. O'Neil exclaimed when the group finally managed to wake him up.

"Don't worry Mr. O'Neil, reality is way worse than your nightmare" Mikey cheerfully said before being smacked by Donnie.

"Unfortunately Mikey's right" Karai said as she and Casey reentered the room. "Not only are the Kraang invading but they're working with the Foot Clan, Leo and Splinter are missing, and there's nothing we can do except run and hide" she concluded before the sight of Justin nodding off on Raph's lap caught her eye. "And somehow I am not surprised that my son is practically sleeping through the whole thing" she commented but just then, as if to prove her wrong, something came crashing through the window.

Actually, this something was a someone, Leo. His unconscious body came flying through the glass covered in scars and bruises.

"LEO!" Mikey exclaimed; the entire scene moved so slow and so fast all at the same time.

Casey rushed over to Leo with the others while Karai, knowing that they would be leaving soon, grabbed her sling off the chair and threw it on just in time to receive Justin from Raph who was hurrying to tend to Leo.

"Dude, his shell is crack!" Mikey nearly cried

"Come out Turtles!" Tiger Claw's demanding voice boomed from the street outside and the next thing the group knew foot bots were entering through the broken window.

"This way!" April shouted, grabbing her dad by the wrist and leading them out of the apartment with Raph carrying Leo piggyback.

In all the confusion no one noticed that Mikey and Casey hadn't followed them until they were out the front door of the building with Rahzar blocking their path.

"This is for my brother!" A dumpster then fell onto the mutant wolf and the two reappeared.

Tiger Claw growled and began shooting at the fleeing group until Donnie threw a smoke bomb as they rounded a corner.

"Hurry, this way!" Mr. O'Neil exclaimed before stopping at what was possibly the most colorful van any of the teenagers had ever seen.

"What the heck is that?" Raph asked and Mr. O'Neil looked at him and chuckled.

"It's my old party wagon from back in my hipster days, groovy?" They middle aged man said awkwardly while holding up a peace sign when, of course, a huge pile of mutagen fell on him.

It was quick this time, and in nearly the blink of an eye Mr. O'Neil had transformed into a Kraang like creature.

"Not again!" April shrieked, backing away like the others but still standing closest to her now mindless father.

"April move!" Casey shouted as he yanked her into the van along with the others, Kraang Prime now hot on their tales.

"Floor it Jones!" Raph shouted as Casey located the van's keys and he did as he was told. They sped away through the streets of the city; just narrowly dodging mutagen attacks from Kraang Prime and his suite.

"Are you sure you know how to drive?" Karai asked from the farthest back wall of the van where she was using all her strength to not only keep herself righted but also keep Justin from flying out of her sling.

"Hey I'm trying not to get us mutated!" Casey shouted in defense

"So your plan is to get us killed?" Karai shouted back

"Hey, you want him to drive better? Stop yelling at him!" Raph broke through the argument, really not in the mood to hear his sister and friend fight over Casey's obvious inability to drive.

They drove not out of the city, but deeper into it as they struggled to avoid the globs upon globs of mutagen constantly being fired both at them and around them.

"This looks like a safe spot" Casey decided when they drove up behind a warehouse after not having been hit for a while.

It had somehow been silently decided that they were going back to the lair to search for Splinter and so one by one almost all of them piled out of the van.

"What about Leo?" Mikey asked

"We shouldn't move him" Donnie was quick to say

"He can stay with me, I'm going back to look for my family" Casey announced

"I'll go with you" April said, climbing back in the van.

Casey wanted to argue but he didn't. If they ran into more Kraang or Foot then he wouldn't be able to protect Leo, not by himself.

"We'll meet you guys back here" April said but before she could close the passenger door Karai put her hand on it's edge.

"Wait" she said before carefully removing her sling with a very upset Justin still inside, "take Justin with you" she said and handed the baby over to April, Casey however looked terrified by the idea.

"He's safer with you" He argued but Karai shook her head.

"With the Kraang invading he's safer going with you in the van, we don't know what we're going to find down there" she said before leaning over to give Justin, who was still sobbing, a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be back soon baby, I promise"

Casey sighed but allowed Karai to shut April's door, cutting off all hope for an argument.

"Be careful," he said to her and she nodded

"You too."

* * *

Down in the sewer the lair was destroyed. Robotic Kraang scrap lay everywhere along with the scrap of what used to be their home.

"Oh man" Donnie remarked hopelessly.

"Sensei?" Mikey called out weakly

"Sensei?" The others all called out but there was no answer.

"Maybe if we-" Mikey started but he was abruptly halted by his sister's hand on his shoulder.

"Forget it, he's not here" she said gravely. An eerie silence fell over the group, each of them silently mourning what was most likely the permanent loss of their father before Donnie finally spoke up.

"We better get moving, everyone grab one thing you want to take with you and let's go," he instructed and the others nodded before splitting up around the destroyed lair.

Raph ran off to his room, and Karai asked that since he was going that way to grab one of Justin's toys from her room. Mikey headed off for the kitchen, for his pet Karai guessed. Donnie went to his lab, no surprise there. But Karai found herself in the dojo. She wanted to take the family portrait, but at the same time she wanted to leave it in case Splinter ever returns.

 _You left him to battle an army of Kraang by himself; there's no way he survived,_ she thought to herself.

But despite this loss of hope Karai found herself leaving the formal portrait of her family behind, in favor of the much more casual picture of her parents that lay unframed not far from it.

They met back up at the entrance; Raph casually tossed a fairly used stuffed elephant in Karai's direction that she caught with practiced ease.

"Let's move" Donnie said but before anyone could move Mikey froze.

"Wait, what's that?" He asked and for a brief second the other's all strained their ears to listen.

"What's-?" Raph started but he didn't finish, because that was when he heard it.

Somewhere way off in the distance of the sewers a fight was being held, the four teenagers could just barely make out the sounds of angry shouts echoing off the walls of the sewer tunnels.

"You guys don't think?" Donnie started to ask but he didn't even bother finishing, instead he and his siblings bolted down the tunnel and towards the sounds.

* * *

When they arrived at their destination it was bittersweet, on one hand they found that their father was alive. On the other hand he was fighting the Shredder and they were separated by an iron gate.

"Sensei!" Mikey called out

"GO! Leave this place!" Splinter shouted back, wasting no time in telling his children to get to safety.

Shredder, of course, noticed Karai in the group and relished the look of horror displayed on her face.

"Seventeen years ago I showed mercy to your daughter, and she repaid me with betrayal!" He growled before kneeing Splinter in the gut harshly and turning to the bars.

"Now she will learn that betrayal comes with a stiff price!" He bellowed and in retaliation Splinter came up from behind and bit Shredder on the shoulder.

The fight continued on until it looked like Splinter had won, when Shredder snuck up behind him and in two moves had the rat unconscious.

"Don't do it!" Donnie begged when Shredder held their father up over a sewage drain.

"Shredder stop!" Karai shouted desperately and amazingly he hesitated, "Please, you thought kidnapping me would help solve your problems but all it did was cause you more pain. Please don't do this!" she begged and it almost looked like Shredder considered her words for a minute, almost. But he threw Splinter down into the even deeper levels of the sewer, and the four teens watched in horror as their father, as far as they were concerned, died.

"NO!" Karai screamed and Shredder looked back at her, almost regretfully, as he gripped his injured shoulder then turned away. "GET BACK HERE! YOU MONSTER! GET BACK HERE!" She screamed before her screams turned feral sounding as she desperately pulled on the bars of the gate.

"Karai! Karai!" Raph tried to snap her out of it but she wouldn't, not until his arms came around her waist and he lifted her up and forcibly pulled her from the bars.

She was still screaming, and at some point those screams turned to sobs, but no one pointed it out even when Raph released her only to grab her again by the shoulders and turn her around, enveloping her in a hug. Slowly but still quickly Karai's sobs became more and more quiet until they were just simple tears and she returned Raph's embrace, one hand still clutching tightly to Justin's elephant.

"We're not running" Donnie said, breaking the silence and prompting Raph and Karai to break apart. "I am tired of running. We're taking down the Foot," he announced.

* * *

They raced back to where Donnie stored the Turtle Mech and went through a brief run-through of not only its operations but also the general plan of attack. Donnie had also been using Karai's armor as a template for how to weld different pieces of the Mech together so while they were there she made sure to put it on, she would need the extra protection.

It wasn't long before they reached Foot headquarters, and even less time before the surrounding Kraangdroids started shooting at them.

"Karai pull that lever to your left! Hit the pedal!" Donnie ordered and when Karai did as she was asked the Mech responded by stomping on a whole section of Kraang.

Next was the flamethrower followed by Raph mimicking Mikey's earlier actions against the Foot Clan and dropping a dumpster on the robots. They advanced quickly, but before they could take down the building Kraang Prime attacked.

"We don't stand a chance against that thing!" Raph exclaimed

"We can do this. Super Robo Mecha Force fought way bigger enemies!" Mikey assured them and if everyone else weren't so convinced that they were doomed they wouldn't have listened to the faith their little brother had gotten from a cartoon.

But they needed that faith, so instead of arguing Donnie just shouted "Booyakasha!" and released a giant stink bomb.

The bomb barely even fazed Kraang Prime, who then proceeded to give the four teens a brief history lesson about how long the Kraang have been on Earth, before Mikey kicked him in the shin and didn't do one ounce of damage. The alien then swung at them before activating the laser beam on his head, which the Mech impressively dodged time after time until it couldn't anymore and they crashed.

"Is everyone ok?" Karai questioned but just as expected the responses she got were less than comforting.

They barely managed to get back on their feet when Kraang Prime appeared again and lifted them right off the ground.

"Kraang as had enough games" he said and Donnie shot the fire of the flamethrower directly in the alien's face, causing him to release the Mech.

"Dude weapons are down!" Mikey exclaimed but Donnie was already on it.

"We've got one trick left, first we tap into the city's power grid" Donnie began and Karai only had a split second as she watched the power line shoot out, she didn't have time to tell Donnie to wait.

The line tapped the grid, and then Donnie heard a blood-curdling scream. But how was that possible? He hadn't even fired yet! Then it hit him. Karai was wearing her armor; the electricity that was now coursing through the Mech was also coursing through her. He had breakers on the backs of all their seats so they wouldn't get electrocuted, but she was wearing metal.

"Mikey fire that thing now!" Raph barked; they had all become distracted by Karai's scream, but allowing the electricity to continue through her wasn't helping anything.

"Right!" Mikey exclaimed before firing the harpoon.

They fried Kraang Prime, the Mech, the city's power, and possibly one of their own.

"Gah! Gotta shut down the system!" Donnie cried and while he did that Raph climbed out of his station and down to Karai's, only to find her slumped in her seat with her eyes closed.


	17. The Van

"Come on Karai. I'm not losing my father, my brother, and my sister in one day" Raph pleaded as he carefully reached one hand over the bars of Karai's station and gently felt her neck for a pulse.

At first he couldn't find one, and to be honest he didn't expect to. The majority of her armor is over her upper body, over her chest, over her heart. He knew that it was possible she survived, but he also knew it was highly unlikely. But then he felt a pulse. It was faint, almost too faint to detect, but it was there.

"How's Karai?" Mikey called over

"She's got a pulse but it's weak" Raph admitted

"Don't touch her armor, it's likely that it's still holding electricity" Donnie instructed and of course, as if only to make matters worse, it was at that moment Kraang Prime rose up and climbed out of his suite.

"Donnie get this thing moving!" Mikey said urgently as Donnie pulled desperately on the controls.

"I can't! The controls are fried! ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!" He screamed and so while he and Mikey jumped out of the their stations Raph, completely ignoring his brother's warning, reached over and lifted Karai out of her station.

Donnie was right about her armor and the red-banded turtle felt a powerful shock of electricity pass through him as he picked her up, making sure to also grab her son's elephant between two fingers. The electricity only lasted a second, clearly most of it had made it through the harpoon and only a residual amount remained. He quickly joined the others as they were running from the giant Kraang chasing them, but it was obvious that they couldn't outrun it. Thankfully they didn't have to because Casey came to their rescue and knocked the alien aside with the van.

"Everyone in!" April shouted as they all piled into the back of the van.

"What happened to Karai?!" Casey demanded, lifting up his mask to show the mix of anger and fear on his face.

"She got electrocuted, I'll treat her on the way. Just drive!" Donnie shouted at the hockey player who grudgingly turned back to face the road and drove them out of the city.

* * *

After Donnie's outburst the van was quiet and it's occupants didn't seem to notice the war going on outside. It was evident that Casey, April, and Justin had returned the way they left, just the three of them. No one asked why, no one wanted to hear Casey admit what they already knew. The silence was finally broken when Justin managed to pull himself up so he was standing on the seat, April holding him steady, not realizing that he's just tall enough to see over.

"Mama?" He seemed to ask, granted in very broken speech that was muffled by his pacifier.

"Mama's going to be alright Justin, don't worry" Casey said but truthfully it was hard to tell if he was reassuring his son or himself.

"I just hope we have enough bandages for both her and Leo" Donnie commented as he dug through his first aid kit.

"There's another first aid kit at the house, do you think they'll last until then?" April questioned and she almost wished she hadn't turned her head, because she had never seen Donnie looking so hopeless.

"I hope. They're both unstable and it's likely that a large amount of electricity passed through Karai's heart, honestly I'm surprised they're alive." He admitted before he finally pulled out a half used roll of bandages and set to work on Leo.

"Mm…mmm..." Justin began to fuss before pulling out his pacifier as if that would somehow allow the words to form. "Mm… mom…mama" he stuttered out and his obviously improved speech was enough to bring a smile to Mikey's face.

"He said his first word!" The turtles cooed but the only response he got was a growl from Casey.

"Great, he learns to say 'mama' and Karai can't even hear it!" He angrily exclaimed

"Hey Justin no!" April nearly shouted in alarm when the panicked baby began trying to climb over the back of the seat.

"Go ahead and put him back here. We'll hold onto him and all the electricity left in Karai shocked me when I got her out of the Mech" Raph said but April still continued to restrain Justin as she looked to Casey who only huffed.

"Go ahead, something tells me he's gonna be distracting if he stays up here" he told her coldly, April had never seen him so cold before but she decided that she wouldn't press the matter, not here anyway. So she silently lifted Justin up and over the seat, handing him off to Raph.

"Mikey, work on getting Karai's armor off." Donnie instructed seemingly oblivious to anything happening behind him.

As Mikey quickly unstrapped and discarded his sister's so called 'protective' gear Justin squirmed out of Raph's grip and stumbled over to Karai. Due to being in a moving van he barely made it one step and nearly face planted on top of his mother, however Raph saw this coming and caught the little boy before allowing him to steady himself by leaning against his mother. Justin pressed one hand into her stomach so he could keep his balance and put the other hand on her ribs. When he pressed his hand into her ribs she flinched; she gave a small grunt of pain that her face contorted to match but after a minute her face relaxed and she did nothing more.

"Good, she's responsive" Donnie said, having caught what happened. He was finished with Leo for now, having done all he could do for his brother while they were limited to the van.

He still had a fair amount of bandages left and wasted no time taking off Karai's right glove and rolling up her sleeve. What he saw made him feel immeasurable amounts of guilt; her entire arm was burnt but the areas the armor had covered were worse. Her hand and her forearm, he didn't even want to look at her shoulder, were awful. Her skin was just gone. There were still a few remaining patches but those were clearly dead and peeling away, but most of it was just her raw under layer of skin with lines and lines of blood just trailing down from the wounds.

"Mmmm" Justin began to whimper as tears formed in his eyes.

"Don't worry Justin" Raph said softly while lifting the baby onto his lap, "mom's going to be just fine. She has a boo-boo is all" he assured his nephew who didn't seem to entirely believe the comforting words but he seemed to take comfort in them. He leaned his head against Raph's chest but didn't take his eyes off his mother, as if he wanted to be watching when she woke up.

Meanwhile in the front seat April was taking notice of how tightly Casey was gripping the steering wheel. He was listening to every word said behind him, she knew he was, and she knew that he desperately wanted to be back there. She hated that she didn't want to admit it but she knew that something was between him and Karai, something she was sure would've been there even if Justin had never come into their lives. They care about each other, and as more than friends. April could see it when they split up, how badly Casey wanted to stay with her. The whole time she drove with him, his mind was on Karai. Not to mention the bathroom back at her apartment, how they had stayed in there together for so long. April doubted they had done anything, obviously that wasn't the time or the place and she's sure that their obvious feelings towards each other are still unspoken.

"Why don't we pull over at the next stop? I'll drive for a little while," April suggested but Casey's frowned only deepened.

"I can drive Red," he snapped

"I know I just thought… never mind" she continued with a sigh.

In the back the three conscious turtles heard the little spat up front but decided to say nothing about it. Instead they kept quiet, even Justin was quiet despite the scene he was watching. Raph did his best to shelter the little boy, but he didn't want to completely turn him away either. He knows Karai's alive, so he wants to watch her until she wakes up. Actually it was just then that Raph remembered he was sitting on the stuffed elephant he had been so careful to remember. Slightly shifting in his seat for a minute Raph retrieved the toy from under him and held it in front of his nephew, unaware if the little boy would actually take any interest in it or not.

"Hey, Justin" he prompted when Justin didn't even seem to notice the toy.

At the sound of his name Justin turned his head and when he saw the toy he gave an excited smile, the first time he had since this morning. Gurgling out some happy noises he gleefully reached for the toy and took it, briefly hugging it close to his chest and turning from side to side before he settled again, still focused on his mom.

Raph smirked and, like he had earlier, tried to distract himself by studying his nephew's appearance.

Nephew.

Raph had never considered he would ever become an Uncle, and he didn't really think seriously on it even with all that had transpired in the past month. Karai and Casey hardly ever referred to any of the turtles as Uncles, not that either of them are ever one to say something like that as anything more than a joke. But to be honest Raph kind of liked the idea. He liked knowing that he was related to this little boy sitting on his lap, and he liked knowing that he was going to be able to see him grow up. As far as babies go he is pretty cute, like both his parents he has pale skin and brown eyes. He also has black hair that Raph is sure he gets from Karai because it's nowhere near as thick and greasy as Casey's. Also, Raph noted with a chuckle, with his black and white striped pajamas and bright orange pacifier he looked like he was ready for Halloween. Raph was snapped out of his thoughts when Justin's head lolled against his plastron and he couldn't help but smirk as he pulled him just a little closer.

"I know kid, you've had a long day," he murmured warmly.

* * *

It took Donnie about a half hour to bandage both Karai's arms and the bottom half of her legs before he finally leaned back and sighed.

"Alright that's all I can do for now, uh hey April?" He began and April turned around in her seat.

"Yeah Donnie?" She asked

"Um, do you think you could finish Karai's bandages when we get to the house?" He asked, a slight blush crawling across his face.

"Sure, what still needs to be done?" She questioned and as a result Donnie's blush deepened.

"Well her thighs, first of all since I only had enough bandages to finish her shins. But uh, I haven't looked at her back yet so that, that needs to be done." Donnie continued to stutter and April couldn't help but smile when she realized why he was not only asking her to finish for him but why he was being so awkward about it.

"Got it," she said which thankfully shut Donnie up.

The genius turtle smiled gratefully at April and when she turned back around he began to survey their little set up in the back. Karai and Leo were both lying on the floor with him kneeling between them. Mikey was sitting up against the wall asleep and Raph was still awake and sitting on what looked like the tattered remains of a seat with Justin asleep on his lap. Donnie smiled at this; at least some of their sleeping family members were asleep by choice.

* * *

"I'll get the door" April said when they finally reached her family's house out in the country. Donnie had opened the van door and he and Mikey were working on getting Leo out of the van when April went off to unlock the house.

Raph followed his brother's out of the van and tried to hand Justin off to Casey but the hockey player shook his head, his eyes falling past Raph and onto Karai.

"Bring him inside, I'll get Karai," he said and Raph sighed but patted his friend's shoulder in a silent agreement. As he walked away Justin looked over the turtle's shoulder back at his father as if he were about to protest; but he must have realized what was happening when Casey climbed into the back of the van because he quickly settled down.

When Casey got back there, when he saw Karai lying there almost lifelessly, he wanted to cry.

"Karai, hey Karai wake up" he whispered as he tried to gently shake her awake but he got no results. She just simply lay there and so with no hope that she would wake Casey slipped his arms under her and picked her up bridal style.

"You know if you ever find out I carried you inside, you'll probably kill me," he reflected with a chuckle as he walked up the dirt driveway to the house.

"You'll wake up soon, Donnie and April will make sure of that, I promise." He muttered.


	18. Still Have a Family

_"We're going to find them and then we're getting out of here, all of us. I promise"_

 _"I'll be back soon baby, I promise"_

 _"You'll wake up soon, Donnie and April will make sure of that, I promise."_

All these broken promises were just playing on a never ending loop in Casey's head. That first one was out the window, they never found Splinter and it's really unclear if they can actually say Leo got out of there or not. Karai promised Justin that she would be back, and in a way she kept it. But in another way she still hasn't returned. Then there was that last one. How could Casey even say something like that? There's nothing he can do to help her and based on what April said about the scars on her back and her chest it's possible she's in more danger than Leo. Donnie thinks it'll be easier to know sooner if she'll be all right or not, which isn't really good news. He says that her organs aren't fried so that's a good sign; he says that in the long run she'll probably have more scarring than Leo but she'll probably make a faster recovery; assuming either of them makes a recovery at all.

 _No, they'll be all right, both of them. They will be_ Casey thought to himself, it was currently about three in the afternoon, they had driven through the night and made it to the house around nine. Since then Leo had been put in the bathtub while he had been told to leave Karai in April's old room. He had laid her carefully on the bed and about two minutes later April was there to shoo him out while she dealt with finishing the bandages. He had tried waiting outside the door but his lack of patients soon got the better of him and he found himself wandering around the house.

He had gone out to the barn for awhile where Donnie looked like he was organizing, and he made a mental note to maybe see if he could get that old truck in the corner running again. After that he had started going through the kitchen but found that literally every edible thing had rotted years ago except for a few cans of soup. So with soup as his only option that's what he fed Justin for breakfast.

Justin.

The poor kid was really all that was keeping Casey from going over the edge in a full-blown fit of rage. He was pissed. His family, his dad and his sister, they're either dead, Kraangified, or suffering. Splinter's missing, Leo's comatose, and Karai isn't far behind him. He really just wants to go off into the woods and start pounding a tree with his bare hands; but he won't. He can't. He looks down at his son and he remembers that he still has a family, he still as someone to watch out for and protect.

Right now Justin's napping, and since April finished with Karai's bandages hours ago Casey's sitting on the edge of her bed.

"You should sleep" a voice said from behind him, he turned to see April standing in the doorway. "You drove all night," she continued but Casey merely shrugged.

"Later, I hate sleeping during the day" he commented

"Since when? You sleep until noon and during the school year you sleep through almost every class," April sarcastically reminded him.

"Whatever Red!" He snapped and he noticed when she flinched back "Sorry" he muttered.

"It's ok" April assured him before she ventured into the room and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Come on why don't you take a nap?" She tried again but Casey only sighed.

"I'll sleep tonight ok?" He bargained and April sighed but took back her hand

"Fine but if you're going to be in here can you please change the bandages on her arms for me?" She asked, pointing to a roll of bandages sitting on the nightstand.

"Sure" Casey said with a very glum nod, April just sighed before leaving the room.

Once April was gone Casey reached over and grabbed the bandages from the table before carefully beginning to roll up Karai's left sleeve. He was careful to try and keep it off her skin, or what's left of it, as much as possible but it still made contact here and there and the motion caused Karai to tense up with the pain.

"Ya well wake up and we can give you some pain killers," Casey grumbled as he began removing the bandages on her arms. They were soaked with thick stripes of blood and Casey wondered how bad the wounds looked before.

Suddenly Karai shifted, making it sort of hard for Casey to do anything with the bandages, but he forgave that immediately when her eyes fluttered open.

"Uh, hey" he said awkwardly, freezing in his spot.

"Ugh, hey" Karai forced out as she tried to sit up, Casey reached to help her but didn't do more than reach.

"Be careful, you got electrocuted," he warned but Karai just winced as she nodded.

"I know," she said

"Really? Huh in the movies people usually have amnesia or something" Casey commented but Karai just rolled her eyes before looking down at her arm, then deciding she didn't want to do that again.

"Yeah no, god knows how many volts of electricity shooting through you is something you remember" she said "but if you want to explain something to me you could start with where we are" she continued

"Oh yeah, we're at April's, well sort of. Her family owns this old abandoned house out in the country; no one will find us" he answered and Karai nodded.

"Good. Now can you hand me those bandages?" She asked

"Oh yeah, here" Casey said, handing over the bandage roll, but he quickly took it back when he saw how much maneuvering her arms was hurting his friend.

"Hey!" She protested when he snatched the roll back

"You're hurt enough, you don't need to make it worse," he said and although she gave him a death glare she allowed him to finish unwrapping and rewrapping her arm. "Oh just so you don't freak out when you notice the bandages on your chest, don't worry. April did those and she made all of us leave" he said and Karai couldn't help but chuckle.

"How bad does it hurt?" Casey asked after a minute or two of silence.

"Not bad, just when I move" Karai answered

"Donnie said the pain will probably stop after a couple of days," Casey continued and Karai nodded but said nothing else. "Justin's napping, in case you were wondering," he continued with nothing else to say.

"I was but I figured you'd tell me if you lost him again" she commented and Casey rolled his eyes. "So did you find your family?" She asked but when Casey sighed her face fell.

"No, they were gone" he admitted.

For a moment there was nothing but silence between the two as Casey finished wrapping her arm and then reach for her other one.

"I'm sorry" Karai said as Casey climbed onto the bed and sat behind her so he could work at a better angle.

"It's ok, we're going to stop the Kraang and when we do I'll find them," he said it as if he didn't believe a single word he was saying. Karai leaned back and found herself relaxing against his chest.

"Casey, I don't want to scare you but it could be awhile until that happens" She sighed, slightly wincing as he carefully undid her bandages.

"I know but until then it's not like I'm alone, I have you guys" he said and Karai couldn't help but downcast her eyes to her injured arm.

"Some help I am" she snorted

"Hey you fought off half a Kraang army and survived my driving with a baby strapped to ya, you're more help than you give yourself credit for." Casey said with a laugh and Karai smirked.

"Yeah well I also put you in an impossible position and forced you to lie to everyone you love" she pointed out just as Casey finished wrapping up her arm. He smirked and very gently let his arms wrap around her waist, being very careful not to irritate her injuries.

"Not everyone" he murmured and Karai almost asked who it was he didn't lie to, and she really should have, but she didn't.

* * *

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening" Angel urgently whispered over and over to herself as she hid cowering underneath her bed. It wasn't the alien invasion that she couldn't believe was happening, it was the fact that alien's were invading while she was home alone.

She was scared, she had been scared ever since Casey called and said that he wouldn't be home for a couple of days. But a couple of days had turned into a couple of weeks and now her dad was out at the store, her brother and nephew were still MIA, and aliens were running around turning people into monsters.

Suddenly she heard the front door of their apartment burst open and her father's frantic voice came screaming.

"ANGEL! ANGEL BABY WHERE ARE YOU?" He shouted through the apartment and Angel, who normally had some difficulty getting back out from underneath her bed, scrambled out of hiding and burst from her room.

"Daddy!" She cried before jumping into the man's arms.

Mr. Jones gratefully embraced his daughter, lifting her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, before he set her back on her feet.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe. Listen to me; we need to get out of here. Run to your room, pack your suitcase as fast as you can; then meet me in here. Ok?" He instructed and Angel nodded frantically throughout his directions, but before she could move a large glob of mutagen came shooting through the window and covered her father.

Angel screamed, the transformation was almost instantaneous, and soon she found herself looking at a zombie minded Kraang monster.

She turned and ran fast, not to her room all the way down the hall but instead into Casey's room right around the corner. She slammed the door and bolted all six locks, suddenly grateful for her brother's extreme case of paranoia and preparedness for literally anything. She also blocked the door with Justin's playpen/crib and Casey's desk chair, noticing his open journal when she went for the chair.

The journal intrigued her, the page it was open to showing off an accurately drawn image of a Kraang, a little too accurate for Angel's comfort. She crossed over to the desk; the sounds of her father banging on the door lost to her ears, and began reading the messily formed sentences Casey had written to go along with his pictures.

 _I can't believe these things have been on earth for thousands of years, you think someone would've noticed. Course maybe they did, seems like everyone who notices gets taken care of._

Angel raised an eyebrow in confusion, the Kraang have been here for thousands of years? And Casey knows this?

She kept flipping through the journal, looking for more information. It was hard to find anything, as Casey prefers pictures to words and so he wrote very few captions. One thing she did find interesting was a map, a map laying out a series of tunnels. At the top of the page there was a note

 _Enter from Renaissance Alley._

Angel didn't know what she'd find there, but she knew she'd find something. So she took the journal, the baseball bat Casey kept under his bed for protection, and started down the fire escape. Completely unaware that just ten minutes later her brother would come home looking for her.


	19. Good Intentions

Angel darted through the streets, both dodging Kraang and fighting them off with the bat. Finally she made it to Renaissance Street and ducked into the alley, Kraang hot on her tail.

"What?" She exclaimed upon realizing that neither of the buildings she was standing between had a side door.

She tried to think like Casey, and Casey watches a lot of spy movies. Frantically she began pushing on random bricks and looking for any sort of strange markings, anything that could allude to a secret passageway of some sort. But so far nothing was working so she thought she'd try the wall of the other building and when crossing the alley she stepped on the manhole cover to the sewers, and then it hit her. The map showed tunnels, sewer tunnels! She couldn't for the life of her understand why her brother would draw up a map of the sewers, or why entering from this particular manhole cover was so important, but that could be thought about later. For now she just threw off the metal plate and made her way down the ladder, placing the metal circle back in place before the Kraang could ever see her.

She dropped to the ground and leaned up against a sewer wall to catch her breath before taking out Casey's map again. Unfortunately for Angel while her brother prefers to look at the world through pictures she prefers words. She tried following the map but things just look so much different in real life even when compared to Casey's above average artwork. There were so many twists and turns that he didn't draw in and she couldn't understand the scale to save her life. So basically she was wandering aimlessly around the sewers while flipping through the journal to see what else was in there. She saw pictures of turtles, human sized turtles. One of which was being tackled by a man in a hockey mask; no doubt Casey's imaginative version of himself. There was also a tiger that caught the nine-year-olds eye. He stood on two legs like a human and wore clothes the way a human does. He also had an X pattern on his chest that appeared to be made up of bullets. There was a note written beside him,

 _Has no tail_

Angel found that odd, what kind of a tiger doesn't have a tail? There were other's too, a pigeon man, a turtle even bigger and more muscular than the others, a giant skeleton wolf, and a fish with robot legs among others. There was also a drawing of a heavily armored man, and he was the only picture that was labeled, The Shredder.

Eventually Angel looked up and saw that she had wandered into a large chamber of the sewer, the floor was completely filled with watery sewage and she was standing on a narrow walkway off to the side. But something was floating in the sewage. It looked like a person!

"Oh my gosh!" Angel exclaimed and without thinking twice she placed down her brother's book and dove head first into the dirty water.

She swam over to the figure but only when she reached it did she realize that this figure was not a person, but a man-sized rat.

"Ah!" She shrieked, practically jumping away despite being up to her neck treading water. For a moment she just stayed in one spot treading water as she stared wide-eyed at the creature. Her heart was pounding in her chest while blood pounded in her ears; this just isn't possible. But she remembered her father, and she remembered all those drawings in Casey's journal. Was it possible that this rat and all those other animals were once human? Could the Kraang have done this? It was then Angel noticed that this giant rat was wearing clothes, unusual for rats. Maybe he was human once; maybe the Kraang experimented on him and turned him into this. And maybe, just maybe, he could help her.

Finally snapping out of her daze Angel dove under the water and swam over to the rat in an attempt to drag him over to the ledge. But she soon found that even in the water he was much to heavy for her to lift. Resurfacing and gasping for air Angel got an idea, and instead of pushing the rat-man from under water she swam above water, using her arms to push and her legs to move. Angel was suddenly grateful she had played so much indoor soccer throughout her life, as it made her legs strong enough to keep her above water without the aid of her arms. Once she was at the ledge she briefly contemplated how to get the rat up, before inhaling deeply and diving underwater again. She positioned herself directly under the large creature and using all her strength, and her head as well as her arms, she pushed him up against the wall until he toppled over the edge and landed on the bricks of the walkway.

Gasping for breath as she resurfaced Angel pulled herself up and briefly collapsed before getting to her feet and reclaiming her brother's journal. She then knelt down next to the rat's head and began feeling along his neck for a pulse, though she wasn't quite sure if a humanoid rat's pulse would be in the same place as a human's. But she relaxed once she found what she was looking for and then sat back against the concrete wall to wait for her 'companion' to wake up.

"I hope I can trust you," she breathed out.

* * *

Casey and Karai sat in silence where they were, neither one of them quite ready to return to the destroyed remains of reality yet. They both wished that time could just turn back, back to before this whole mess even started. Back to this morning, when despite being trapped in the lair everything else about their lives was some semblance of happy. Sure they both missed the surface, sure Casey missed his father and sister, but he'd be lying if he said they were his only family. But being stuck down in the lair, aside from constantly being stuck in one place, wasn't that bad. He liked living with the guys, he liked not lying every day about where he'd been or, more recently, about what happened to Karai.

Sitting here with her in his arms Casey almost couldn't believe it was real. That day she came running into the lair, he had thought he was dreaming. When she hopped over the turnstiles he honestly believed that he was about to wake up in his bed drenched in sweat from the nightmare, not that her coming back was a nightmare but him waking up from such hope would've been. But when she slid to her knees before him and took Justin in her arms, he knew it was real.

Neither of them noticed, but at some point they must have both fallen asleep because the next thing they knew they were waking up to the door creaking open and Mikey peeking in before quickly poking his head back out.

* * *

"How's she doing?" Raph questioned when his little brother returned to the bathroom, he was currently sitting on a stool next to the tub and had sent Mikey to check on Karai.

"I don't know, she was sleeping but I think I woke them up" Mikey responded with a shrug.

Raph just glared at Mikey, completely dumbfounded.

"Them? Mikey what are you talking about?" He questioned

"Karai and Casey, he was in there too," Mikey explained, but a second later he wished he hadn't said anything.

One second Raph was sitting on his stool looking confused, and the next he was up and storming out of the bathroom screaming about how he was going to murder Casey.

By the time Raph got to April's old bedroom Karai was opening the door and ignoring her injuries he shoved past her and marched straight over to Casey who was standing next to the bed.

"Raph it's not-!" The hockey player started to defend himself but Raph seized his arm and cut him off.

"Save it!" He seethed before literally dragging Casey from the room, turning to Karai as he left, and completely ignoring her protests.

"If you're worried about him just wait until I get my hands on you!" He threatened her.

* * *

April was downstairs in the living room, watching TV with Justin since as far as she knew Karai was still out cold and Casey was still sulking at the side of the bed. Justin had woken up about twenty minutes ago and it took her forever to get him to stop crying, all he wanted was his parents. But now he had finally been distracted by one of her old Teletubbies videos.

"I can't believe I used to like this stuff" She commented, she had never understood why people thought the Teletubbies were creepy but re-watching her old videos now she was starting to understand.

She looked down to see if the child sitting next to her had been scared for life yet but he seemed just as happy as she was when she was his age.

"I guess maybe it's a kid thing," she said with a shrug and just then she heard screaming coming from upstairs.

While Justin didn't seem to notice the noise at all April turned her head to see Raph dragging Casey down the stairs by his arm as Casey appeared to be begging for mercy, Karai following close behind.

"If you need me, I'll be pounding Casey's guts out!" The hotheaded turtle shouted at her over his friend and sister's voices before stomping out the front door and slamming it back in Karai's face.

Karai didn't even give the door a thought as she threw it right back open and followed Raph outside, also slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"Raph!" Karai shouted as she stalked after her brother, who was ignoring every single word she and Casey said.

"Raph! Come on man we weren't doing anything!" Casey pleaded as Raph dragged him across the yard

"Raph, Raph, Raph!" Karai repeatedly shouted as she finally got a hand on Raph's shoulder.

For the first time Raph turned back, but it was only to glare at Karai.

"I can beat the shit out of you first if you really want me to" he threatened but it didn't even faze Karai.

"Raph, do we seriously look like we were doing anything? Do you seriously think we could've gotten dressed in the thirty seconds between Mikey waking us up and you storming in if we did something?" She questioned and finally it seemed to get through to Raph that he was over reacting.

He dropped Casey who fell to the ground with a thud, then picked himself up as Karai explained what happened.

"I woke up to Casey changing the bandages on my arms, we talked for a little bit but I was still out of it from my injuries, I fell asleep and woke up maybe ten minutes later to Mikey running away from the door" she said but Raph's glare on Casey didn't lessen in the least.

"What's your excuse Jones?" He demanded and Casey glared at him

"You mean other than the fact that I haven't slept in two days?" He asked and finally Raph seemed to calm down, Karai on the other hand only seemed to grow angrier.

"You know you're one of the very few people who knows the truth about Justin; yet somehow you're the one to jump to conclusions. So in case you've forgotten I'll remind you." Karai sneered before getting right in her brother's face, Casey just stood there completely stunned by her standing up to Raph. It's not that it surprised him; it's just that he had no idea how Raph would take it.

"Justin was created in a lab. Casey has owned up to something that he didn't even do! I cannot believe you would think so low of either of us to think that after the living hell we just went through that we would seriously just-" Karai began talking slowly but the further she went the more deadly her voice grew until Casey finally cut her off.

"Karai come on, he was just looking out for you." He said, and he said it because it's true. Come a few years down the line if he were to find Angel in bed, even fully clothed with a guy friend he knew and liked, he'd probably throw the guy off a building. It's something about a sister; makes a guy crazy protective.

"Well he doesn't need to" Karai spat as she shook off Casey's hand.

"Yes, he does" Raph spat back, "If it wasn't for me looking out for you, you'd be dead. In case you didn't know princess I'm the one who got you out of the Mech, I'm the one who got the after effect of your electrocution, because I'm the one who didn't want to leave you behind!" Raph shouted and Karai's stern gaze faltered for a minute. "If it wasn't for me looking out for ya, your son would be growing up without a mom right now," and with that last sentence he turned and walked off into the woods.


	20. We Need to Talk

April had no idea what happened outside, all she knew was that five minutes after they left Karai came back, followed by Casey, and Raph nowhere in sight.

"Um… What happened?" The red head asked

"You don't want to know" Karai deadpanned as she walked into the living room and picked up Justin who began cooing with joy upon seeing her awake.

"Doesn't that hurt your arms?" Casey questioned, an edge still in his voice from whatever just happened with Raph.

"It does, I don't care" Karai responded, her voice about as hostile as his.

"Right…" April drawled out, she really had no idea what had just happened outside but clearly it wasn't anything good. "Anyway I'm going to the store, we need some stuff for dinner"

"I'll go with you" Karai said

"Donnie will never let you" Casey pointed out

"I don't care. I've spent the last two months in either prison of under house arrest, I'm getting out of here" she insisted

"Maybe it's a good idea, something tells me you two could use a break from each other" April said

"It's Raph we need a break from" Casey huffed

"No kidding" Karai agreed as she walked out of the room to go find her genius brother and inform him that she was leaving with April.

* * *

The car ride to the store was awkward to say the least. The girls brought Justin with them, though April was a little wary of Karai holding him on her lap as opposed to putting him in a car seat, not that they even have a car seat.

"So that bed in my room was originally a bunk bed. I figure when we get back we can drag the top bunk out of the attic and me and you can sleep in there" April suggested

"Ok" Karai said indifferently

"We also have my old crib up there, we can bring that down for Justin and put it in either our room or the one Casey's sharing with Raph" April continued and at that Karai snorted in laughter.

"Oh yeah, I forgot those two were sharing a room" she chuckled

"Not to pry but what happened between you three?" April questioned and Karai shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I'll tell you when you're not driving," she answered and for a moment April took her eyes off the road to glare at Karai in absolute confusion but she then turned her focus back to driving.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in New York, Angel was sitting up against a sewer wall, having flipped through her brother's journal more than enough times for one day.

"You know you're in here," she said to her unconscious companion, "Casey didn't write down your name though" she continued. For a minute she was quiet as she studied his appearance more closely, and she noticed just how beat up he was. "Did the Kraang do this to you? Any of it?" She questioned but of course she received no response. "If you used to be a man can you still talk?" She asked, "I mean obviously you can't talk now cause you're out cold but when you wake up?" Angel sighed, not really liking the quiet. "Well I hope you can, I don't really want to be the only one who talks" she said, "Oh, my name's Angel by the way" she introduced even though she doubted her company could hear her.

For another minute or two it was silent, the only sound coming from the periodic _drip, drop_ of water dripping from a pipe.

"I guess, if we're going to trust each other I should probably tell you more about me than my name." She said it like it was a suggestion but when she, obviously, got no response she let out a sigh.

"Ok. So like I said my name's Angel and I'm nine years old. I live with my dad and my older brother Casey, but lately Casey hasn't been around much. Don't be mad at him, it's not his fault. See his girlfriend was in trouble, well I think she's his girlfriend anyway; they have a baby so I know he at least used to love her. Anyway my mom left when I was six in case you were wondering why I don't live with her. It kind of sucks, living with two boys I mean. Then my brother's baby is a boy, I mean I love him but come on, I just want one girl around, is that too much to ask?" She vented, "Don't get me wrong, I love my family, and I LOVE Casey's hand me down toys, they make all the good stuff for boys. But all the girls in my Girl Scout troop are always talking about their moms; sometimes I don't even know why I stay there." She huffed before looking over at the unconscious rat lying on the concrete beside her. "Actually I do know why I stay there, I'll never tell my dad or my brother though. It's the same reason I have long hair which by the way is dyed pink on the end; you see I'm pretty much a tomboy, and I was like that before my mom left, in fact it's one of the reasons she left. I love it but at the same time, I don't always want to be just like the boys, sometimes I just want to be a girl. I don't want to be mean or snotty like the other girls, but I don't want to be a boy. Before the Kraang invaded I was hoping that maybe Casey would bring his girlfriend over once they found her, because I thought maybe she could help me. I don't know, I guess it doesn't matter now." She sighed.

* * *

"You did what?" April snapped when she and Karai arrived at the supermarket and Karai finally answered the red head's question.

"Absolutely nothing" Karai snapped back as she placed Justin in the baby seat of the shopping cart. "Were you not listening?" She continued

"I was listening when you said you slept with Casey" April grumbled

"I said I fell asleep with Casey sitting behind me" Karai snapped "and anyway is this really something we have to discuss in the middle of the grocery store?" She demanded and April rolled her eyes.

"Well not if there's nothing to discuss" April muttered, Karai was never one to dance in circles with a stupid argument like this; but at this point she was beyond fed up and as much as she wanted it to end there was no chance in hell she was going to let her entire family lecture her on something she didn't do.

Karai was the one pushing the cart, so she stopped it right in it's tracks.

"Ok you know what? I'm sorry. There, I said it I'm sorry, you happy now? I am sorry that I got electrocuted, I am sorry that I was bleeding because my skin was burned off, and I'm sorry that your boyfriend offered to help me." The kunoichi began to rant.

"Ok Casey is NOT my boyfriend" April clarified

"Then what is your problem?!" Karai demanded before realizing that her voice was beginning to rise. "What is your problem?" She repeated in a whisper.

April didn't answer; instead she just stared at Karai, no words that made sense forming in her mind. Finally Karai growled out of frustration and lifted her son from the cart, with some minor protests coming from the baby.

"You know what? Here's the cart, you get stuff for dinner, I'll get stuff for breakfast." She decided and before April could even think about protesting Karai was walking off with her child balanced on her hip. "I think I need to be away from all of you right now" she muttered to herself.

* * *

"Sorry if I kind of made a mess of things" Mikey timidly apologized to Casey as the hockey player inspected the engine, or lack thereof, in the old truck.

"Don't worry about it Mikey, technically I shouldn't have been in there." Casey muttered.

"Technically April said not while she was doing the Band-Aids" Mikey pointed out and Casey chuckled.

"Yeah, you've got a point there Mikey" he said before shutting the hood of the trunk, which popped right back open. He then slammed it shut and when that still didn't work he just gave up and turned around to face Mikey, leaning against the rusted old truck as he stood. "But still, can't say I blame Raph for jumping to conclusions, where is he anyway?" He continued; none of them had seen Raph sense his outburst.

Mikey just waved it off, "He's out in the woods, punching a tree. At least that's what it sounded like when I walked past about five trees and then heard him." The youngest turtle answered. "So what is going on between you and my sister?" He inquired and at the question Casey nearly lost his balance. "Whoa dude, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable" Mikey said as Casey struggled to recover.

"Yeah well, you did Mikey. Anyway there isn't anything going on between Karai and me" he insisted

"Mhmm, Mhmm, interesting; so then why did you look like you wanted to murder somebody when you saw her unconscious?" He asked

"What? Mikey I thought she was dead! There may not be anything between us but I don't hate her!" Casey exclaimed

"And what about the fact that you hung around outside the girl's bedroom until April let you in?" Mikey continued to pester

"I was concerned!" Casey exclaimed

"Dude, she's my SISTER, and I wasn't sitting outside her door" the turtle pointed out.

"Look Mikey, there is nothing going on between Karai and me. The only reason there SEEMS like there is is because we're friends and we… you know have a kid. If Justin hadn't come along then there wouldn't seem like something's there." Casey explained and Mikey nodded thoughtfully.

"Uh-ha, I see. Piece of advice dude, you can spend the rest of your life saying that but you're never going to know what would or wouldn't have happened if your son never came along. He did dude, and like it or not you're falling for his mama." Mikey said with a grin before exiting the barn.

* * *

"What do you think?" Karai asked Justin as she threw a box of cereal into their new cart, of course he only stared at her in response. "Yeah well I think Auntie April needs to admit that she has a thing for your father before she starts yelling at me" she grumbled. She was trying to get over the argument, she really was. But it was pissing her off, first Raph and now April. Then on top of all that she had to worry about Leo and try not to worry about her father. Not to mention that as she walked through the grocery store she didn't miss the judgmental stares from strangers.

Those were really the least of her worries; after all they don't know that things are not what they seem. She knew that she had done the right thing by deciding to keep Justin, and since she really had nothing to feel guilty about the stares didn't bother her for the most part. However, her tolerance reached its limit when she was grabbing a carton of milk and she just faintly caught the hushed voice of a woman not too far from her.

"See? You don't want to end up like that poor girl do you?" She heard the woman ask; her blood boiled at the comment.

She discreetly looked out of the corner of her eye at the source of the voice. It had come from a woman who appeared to be in her late forties, and she looked to be pretty annoyed at the young teenage girl with her who was wearing next to nothing. It only took Karai one second to put the pieces together, and if she wasn't so pissed that this random stranger had decided to make an example out of her she would've felt sorry for the poor girl who looked to be only about thirteen or fourteen.

The girl however glanced apologetically at Karai before sending a death glare to her mother and whispering something that Karai could not hear, but she heard the mother loud and clear.

"Well honey she's asking for it" the mother said, now Karai was really mad. She wanted nothing more than to march over there and turn that woman inside out. She knew that the world was full of rude and judgmental people, but this woman was just cruel. For all she knew, Karai and Justin could be brother and sister! Obviously that's not the case, but the point still stands. At least the girl seemed to see the problem with her mother's behavior and shot Karai another apologetic look before walking away and muttering to her mother that they needed something.

* * *

Dinner that night was awkward to say the least. Raph had ventured back to the house but he was silent throughout supper. Mikey kept giving Casey these weird and strangely encouraging glances, April's face seemed to be set in a permanent scowl, much like Raph's. Donnie was absently picking at his plate, much like Karai was when she wasn't reprimanding Justin for making a mess of his food. After dinner, however, was when the awkward silence of the house grew too much for some people. Casey went up to the attic with April to help her bring down her top bunk as well as her old crib for Justin. Karai volunteered to wash the dishes while Mikey played with Justin and Raph went upstairs to watch over Leo while Donnie retreated back to the barn. When she was done Karai made her way upstairs and stood in the doorway of the bathroom with her arms folded over her chest.

"Thank you" she said and in surprise Raph turned around, "for saving my life. Jumping to conclusions however I'm still mad about" she clarified and Raph sighed.

"Look I'm sorry, I know I over reacted. It's just that every time you come home, you get ripped away from us again. This time I thought we had lost you forever. Then the way I found out we hadn't was through the method of our baby brother telling me my best friend was in bed with you." He admitted and Karai sighed as she ventured into the room and squatted down next to her hotheaded brother.

"Then it looks like I'm sorry," she said and Raph smirked before ruffling her hair playfully.

"Just be careful, I'm getting tired of constantly thinking your dead." He remarked and she laughed

"I'll do my best," she promised.

* * *

It was late at night and Angel was still far from sleep. She misses her dad and her brother too much to sleep. She mostly just lays awake, wondering what became of Casey. The simple answer was he ended up just like their father; but that journal of his made Angel believe otherwise. Why would he have that? Why, how did he even know about the Kraang?

"I don't suppose you ever met my brother? Casey Jones?" She asked her unconscious friend but of course he gave no response. "Well he at least saw you once" she said, basing this statement off Casey's drawing of the rat in his book. "I hope he's ok" She sighed before she finally drifted off into sleep.

* * *

"We need to talk" Casey said to Karai later after he and Mikey had finished setting up the top bunk.

"About what, whose room Justin sleeps in?" Karai asked but Casey shook his head

"No" he said and with that he walked past her but motioned for her to follow.

Confused, Karai followed Casey outside until he sat down on the front steps of the porch.

"Any reason you can't talk to him inside?" She questioned, sitting down besides him.

"It's about this morning" Casey began but Karai only rolled her eyes.

"Look I already talked to Raph-" she began to explained but Casey cut her off.

"Ok maybe not this morning. I don't know, I guess it's just about us in general." He said

"Ok…" Karai drawled out "What about us?" She asked

"Look, I've been thinking. Before Justin ended up with us we were sort of friends-" he started but then he was cut off.

"Right, and that was the extent of it. Anything else is only because of Justin" she insisted.

"But how do you know that?" Casey asked and to his surprise Karai didn't have an answer. "Look, we can spend the rest of our lives arguing over if it's because Justin came along or not. But that doesn't change the fact that he did. Ok we can argue this our whole lives but we will never have the answer, things are the way they are." He said and Karai sighed.

"Casey, now isn't…" she couldn't finish; these past two months she had been denying any and all attraction to Casey Jones but now that they were having this conversation, she wanted nothing more than to drop her defenses and just for once in her life and take a chance.

"Look I know, now is probably the worst time in the world. But after you gave yourself up I was thinking about you all the time. All I wanted to do was charge into that church and get you. I don't think I ever told you this but we were planning a rescue mission-" he began but she cut him off.

"Casey I wouldn't have-" she tried to remind him but he interrupted

"We were going to kill him" Karai's eyes went wide.

"Splinter was going to leave me behind, but I told him I was going. I was so crazy I talked back to Splinter" he said it like he still couldn't believe it himself.

"Remember the day I came home, and you said you didn't want your dad to hate me?" Karai finally asked once she got over the shock of what Casey had done.

"Yeah why?" He asked and she sighed

"Today in the store, there were people staring at me, like they knew I was a terrible person-" she started but tonight seemed to be a night for cutting each other off.

"You're a great person," Casey said but Karai looked as though she didn't believe him. "I mean it. All that stuff you did before, you thought you were doing right. Once you found out the truth you did everything you could to fix things. Karai you sacrificed your own freedom to save your son, and this is after spending a month in that dungeon. Karai you're the strongest, most courageous, most caring person I know. You've gotta give yourself more credit" he said and Karai rolled her eyes.

"You know you're making it really hard for me to find a reason not to like you" she said and Casey smirked.

"So what do you think?" He asked as he grabbed her hand and she smiled at him

"I think we are never going to hear the end of this," she answered before she leaned in and kissed him.


	21. Confrontations

It had been a week, or Angel thought it had been a week anyway. She couldn't tell time anymore. She didn't miss the surface, because from what she could see through the sewer grate above the chamber, New York's sky was eternally gray. She slept when dark turned to darker, assuming that meant it was night. She was surviving on scraps of barely edible food which she salvaged from a dumpster; and going up to the surface was risky. But every day that source of food became less and less reliable and so today she had decided that she should go exploring throughout more of the sewers, who know, maybe other people had taken cover down here.

She walked for hours, memorizing certain stand out features in the tunnels as she went so that she would be able to find her way back. Finally, after finding not even one living soul, she was about to turn back when she stumbled upon a horrifying sight. There were at least twenty Kraang bodies littered all over the ground, and for a moment Angel thought that maybe the Kraang's base of operation was hidden in the sewers. It would make sense; they had to have been hiding somewhere and it would explain why Casey had drawn a map of the sewers into a book filled with information about the Kraang and creatures Angel could only assume were their experiments. But why were their broken bodies strewn all over the ground? Although her better judgment told her not to, Angel walked over the bodies until she reached a very large opening in the sewer.

"Whoa" she said in awe, it looked like an old subway station turned into a house, a destroyed house.

The main room was cluttered with Kraang bodies and over turned furniture. She ventured inside, looking around cautiously for any signs that the aliens were still alive here. But it looked as though they had abandoned the place after whatever battle ended with the place being trashed like this. What really threw Angel was how homely this place looked, she never imagined the Kraang were ones to sit around the TV. Not to mention she didn't see any torture chambers, in fact the only chambers she did find looked to be bedrooms that vaguely reminded her of her brother's. But the last one, the last one only confused Angel even more. It didn't look like the others, it was emptier but one of its few contents was a pacifier. Cautiously she went in and picked up the small object, it looked an awful lot like one of Justin's.

"Just a coincidence" she muttered to herself but still she looked around.

While the four other rooms had looked like they belonged to teenage boys this one looked like it had belonged to a girl.

The comforter, which was half falling off the bed, was a faded pink color with white flowers on it. There was also make-up and earrings lying across the surface of the coffee table and a bag of girl's clothes in the corner.

Angel arched an eyebrow, especially when she noticed a small pile of beat up toys over in the corner. This place just doesn't seem like a Kraang lair. She didn't know what but something drew her to the toys, and she gasped when she quickly noticed that among them was her nephew's sock monkey. She knew it was his, no doubt about it, and she picked it up with shaking hands. Her breath suddenly grew heavy as reality set in; Justin was here. Suddenly Angel found herself looking around the room, for a second time realizing that it had clearly belonged to a girl. This was Karai's room, or her cell if this really is a Kraang base. Karai was here, Justin was here, and maybe her brother was even here.

Clutching the sock monkey, Angel hurried out of the room and continued to make her way through the base. She found a kitchen but all the food was either rotted or, no it was just rotted. There were a few non-perishables such as peanut butter, soup, and some cereal. Hurriedly, Angel began rummaging around the kitchen, looking for some sort of bag to put the food in. Finally she found a dirty cloth bag under the sink and grabbed it. Once she had the food in her bag she went to explore more of the base, but that was when she heard two live Kraang conversing in the next room.

"Kraang has not seen the ones known as the turtles since the plan known as the invasion commenced. It is likely that they were destroyed." One robot said to the other, Angel took that as her cue to leave.

* * *

Casey and Karai never decided to keep their relationship a secret, it's just neither of them wanted to face any of the others. But after a full week of practically avoiding each other Karai went out to the barn one afternoon while Justin was napping and Casey was working on the truck.

"Casey, can I talk to you in private for a second?" She asked from the doorway, although in retrospect she may as well let Donnie hear every word of this.

"I'm not listening" Donnie called over his shoulder, as if reading her mind.

Casey pulled his head out of the hole where the engine should be and wiped off his hands.

"Sure thing" he said following her outside, however before she could say anything he gave her a quick kiss.

"What was that?" She asked with a slight smirk.

"Hey there are only a very few times a day when I can do that, and this little interruption just gave me an extra. So what'd I do to deserve it?" He asked with his signature sly grin, to which Karai giggled as she crossed her arms.

"Believe it or not I actually have something to discuss with you," she said and Casey leaned against the side of the barn.

"Alright, what's up?" He asked, his hands coming to rest in his pockets.

"What's up is ever since we started dating it's like we've made an effort not to see each other" Karai pointed out and Casey sighed, his smile now gone.

"I know, I know. We need to tell them," he said and Karai joined him against the wall.

"Raph and April will kill us," she said

"April?" Casey asked, somehow oblivious of the red head's feelings towards him.

"Well she'll give me the silent treatment at least" Karai said

"That's nothing, Raph's gonna beat us both up." He huffed and Karai nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, not looking forward to that" she sighed

"What's wrong? Afraid of your little brother?" Casey teased and Karai stuck her tongue out in response.

"We both should be," she finally said and Casey chuckled

"He'll be fine with it, long as he knows we aren't sleeping together." He joked and Karai smirked.

"Well he sleeps with you so he better know it" she joked and Casey's face turned to one of panic.

"Oh man, he's gonna try and kill me in my sleep!" He exclaimed and at that Karai couldn't help but laugh.

"Relax, if you want we can move Justin to your room so there'll be a witness to your murder" she joked but Casey only rolled his eyes. "Oh calm down, like you said, he'll be fine with it" Karai continued, more seriously when she saw that her boyfriend didn't find the idea funny.

"I don't know, he may be younger than you but I think last week is proof that that won't stop him from going all big brother on me." He said

"Look I'll tell him while you're not around, if you tell April" Karai bargained.

"What? Come on that's not fair, you know April and I sort of have a history" Casey whined, awkwardly brining up his previous feelings towards April.

"April and I have a history too, one that involves me attacking her twice and then lying to her. Unlike Raph and you, she actually might try and kill me in my sleep." Karai said and Casey rolled his eyes, April would never try and hurt… on second thought maybe Karai has a point. April wouldn't kill her but she might go a little extra hard in training. Obviously Karai could handle that but Casey still hated the thought, one of his best friends purposely trying to hurt his girlfriend.

"Ok fine, you tell Raph and Mikey and I'll tell April and Donnie." Casey agreed

"Sounds good" Karai agreed.

* * *

Angel was back to her usual spot sitting against the wall, now happily eating some of the cereal she had found at the base. She didn't know if that base originally belonged to the Kraang or not, all signs pointed to it but it just seemed too homely.

She was pulled from her thoughts, however, when her companion began to stir. She watched him with undivided attention; after all these long days was he finally waking up? His eyes snapped open and he wasted no time springing to his feet, ignoring his injuries.

"Whoa, whoa chill! It's ok, you're safe" Angel tried to tell him but the creature's eyes held nothing but animalistic hostility, and then he lunged at her.

Angel jumped back with yelp "You weren't a person before were you!" She exclaimed, unaware of how wrong she was.

The rat chased her throughout their little chamber of the sewer, not that she had many places to run. It didn't take the rat long to back her into a corner and land a sharp scratch on her right eye. He kept going, tearing at her clothes and her skin as she shrieked in pain until finally she jumped to the side and into the dirty water of the sewer.

* * *

Telling Mikey was easy; the guy was practically jumping for joy at the news. Karai thought it might be easier to just let him run his mouth and the others would find out that way. But after what happened last time she thought better of it and decided to tell Raph herself, though she had the common sense to leave Justin with Mikey while she did so.

"You do know staring at him isn't going to make him wake up faster right?" she asked from the doorway, Raph was once again sitting on his stool beside the tub.

He didn't say anything in response; he wasn't really big on that these days. So Karai went in and sat in front of him on the ledge of the tub, though she didn't immediately face him. Instead she focused her attention on Leo. He looked the same as always, dark bruises and pale green skin. Karai ran her hand over his forehead, feeling the cool leathery texture of his skin against her hand gave her chills; she hated how cold it was.

"Don't worry, he's got a pulse." Raph broke the silence after seeing her visibly flinch upon touching Leo's skin.

Karai nodded before reclaiming her hand and facing Raph.

"So what's up?" He asked, although the question his tone asked was more of a _what's wrong?_ He could see how unsure of herself she was. It was something they had quickly learned about each other after Karai returned home; they're both terrible at showing emotion and are much more comfortable hiding it, though that means they can't hide it from each other.

"You trust me right Raph?" She asked and her brother's face contorted in confusion

"Depends," he said

"Do you trust my judgment?" Karai clarified with a roll of her eyes

"Oh, your judgment yeah. Your boyfriend's on the other hand…" He purposely trailed off and smirked at the look of surprise on his sister's face. "I heard you telling Mikey downstairs, he was screaming," He explained and Karai closed her mouth, which at some point had fallen open.

"Look Casey's my best friend, and I will never for the life of me understand what you see in him. Sorry if I scared you guys the other day, but I'm cool with you two going out. Just try to keep the details to yourselves" He said and Karai smiled

"Deal" She said

"Of course I can't promise Leo's going to be ok with it" Raph said and Karai looked down at her little yet oldest brother sympathetically.

"He's got more important things to worry about right now," she said.

* * *

Gasping for breath, Angel pulled herself onto a ledge and flopped on her back. Thankfully the rat hadn't followed her.

 _Not that it matters,_ She thought to herself as she examined all her wounds from the fight. They were fresh and bloody and she had just swum through sewer water; it was only a matter of time before she died of infection.

Upon examining herself Angel found that her sweatshirt was basically shredded, the bottom half of her left pant leg had been ripped off. Her arms and legs were sliced with both deep and shallow scratches, as was her stomach, and there was still a trail of blood coming from around her eye and inching towards her chin. Looking at the scratches on her arms they were already covered in dirt and sewer gunk.

"This is it, I'm going to die," she muttered to herself before the tears brimming in her eyes finally began to fall. She lay there on the hard cement of the sewers sobbing, crying out for her family.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, only that it was a long time. But after what felt like hours she heard a voice.

"Are you ok?" It asked and although she sat up, she saw no one.

"Who, who's there?" She asked and the owner of the voice appeared from around the corner of the sewer, another mutant.

"Get away! Get away!" Angel shrieked as she scrambled back until she was up against a wall.

"Whoa calm down, I'm a good mutant" the creature before her promised, he then seemed to notice her injuries. "Did, did a mutant do that to you?" He asked, terror lacing his own voice.

Angel, who was still quivering with fear, nodded and the creature before her gasped but then shook away his own fear and held out his hand to her.

"Here, I know someone who can help you" he said gently.

A part of Angel thought against taking the mutants outstretched hand, but the other part remembered that if she didn't she would probably end up dead within the week. So after a moment of consideration she figured that she didn't have anything to loose by trusting him so she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.


	22. I knew you were Trouble

"Red, you ok?" Casey asked, he and April were sitting on the swing out in the front yard, she responded to his news by staring almost sadly at the ground and not saying anything.

"Uh yeah, why wouldn't I be?" April finally said with a forced half smile before she stood up. "I'm gonna go see if Mikey needs any help feeding the chickens" she said

"April come on," Casey pleaded as his friend walked away from him, but she didn't turn back.

* * *

 _What has happened to my life?_ That was all Angel could think, and really, who could blame her? Just one week ago she had been sitting in front of her TV watching SpongeBob, her biggest worry was the whereabouts of her brother, and at that point she didn't think him dead. But now she was in some sort of science lab on the surface, her new friend Jason the mutant gecko boy by her side, and a mutant fly man was cleaning her injuries. Then, just when she thought things couldn't get any weirder, a giant fish with robot legs walked in.

"What's this about?" The fish demanded, though his voice indicated that he could not care any less if he tried.

"Jassson found thisss girrrl," the fly buzzed out as he continued cleaning the arm of his patient. "Her cutss are verrry infected," he continued.

"Angel this is Mr. X" Jason introduced his new friend to the man who took him and so many other's in after his mutation.

"Hello" Mr. X said, barely giving the girl a wave.

"Can she stay Mr. X, please?" Jason begged much like a child who had just brought home a stray puppy.

"Jason, your assignment was to find supplies, not a person!" Xever snapped

"But she's hurt!" Jason pleaded

"Please" Angel chimed in, her voice coated with all the tears she had been holding back. "Please, I'm not trouble, I'll do anything you want. I don't need much, and I never complain. Just please, please don't leave me alone!" She sobbed and Xever groaned

"Stop crying!" He shouted and Angel repeatedly hiccupped before she finally managed to calm down.

"Not that I care, but how did you get those scars?" Mr. X questioned Angel who sniffled.

"I- A mutant rat attacked me" she answered; this sparked both Xever and Baxter's interests.

"A rat you say?" Xever continued and Angel nodded fearfully

"Do you remember where he attacked you?" The fish inquired and Angel nodded.

"I can't promise he's still there, but I can take you there." Angel bargained; she had no idea why these mutants were interested in the rat but she didn't really care. She just didn't want to be on her own again, especially with that rat out there.

But Xever grinned wickedly at the idea, "I think you'll be able to stay with us" he mused, if only he knew what he was getting himself into.

* * *

"You know I was kidding when I told Casey he should move Justin's crib to his room" Karai chuckled when she walked into her and April's room that night to find both her son and his crib gone. She also found April sitting up on her top bunk painting her nails, not even bothering to look up.

"Ok, so I take it Casey talked to you?" She continued as the other girl inspected her nails

"Yeah he talked to me. He told me how he, one of my best friends, has been dating my other friend who also happens to be my roommate for a week now." April snapped

"Hey you told me you didn't like him-" Karai began to defend but April interrupted.

"I didn't think you were going to ask him out!" She exclaimed, climbing down from her bunk as she did so.

"Hey he asked me out!" Karai shouted and for a moment April looked surprised, so Karai kept going when her roommate didn't say anything. "Sorry to burst your bubble O'Neil but you're not the center of everyone's world." She snapped.

"I never said I was! Where would you even get an idea like that?" April demanded

"Should I start with your father worrying over you to the point of making himself sick or the Kraang putting you at the center of their plans?" She asked and April scoffed.

"Oh yeah cause your father doesn't love you, and why would you want to be at the center of an alien plot to take over the world?" She questioned

"Ugh you don't get it!" Karai growled, "All your life people have been there for you, people have wanted you! How old did you say you were when you lost your mother? Six? I don't remember mine! Your father always wanted what was best for you; Shredder used me as a pawn in his revenge scheme!" She shouted

"You have people who care about you now" April reminded her but she huffed

"Yeah and aside from Casey they all walk on eggshells around me because they don't want to acknowledge that I don't deserve to be here! I-" She shouted

"Oh grow up Karai!" April interrupted with a death glare. "You were lied to, that's not your fault and you know it. You gave yourself up twice, you know just as well as the rest of us do, that you deserve to be here. But for whatever selfish reason you have you won't admit it!" She continued and Karai narrowed her eyes into a death glare.

"You don't know what you're talking about O'Neil" she spat.

* * *

After having moved Justin's crib into the room that he and Raph were sharing, Casey was sitting on the end of the bed with the little boy in his lap while Raph sat off to the side in a chair reading the newspaper. It was one of the very rare times today the red-banded turtle had left his post by Leo's side, and he was using it to read the reports of the Kraang invasion.

"Can I hang out in here?" Karai's voice pulled both teenagers from what they were doing and they looked up to see her leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded over her chest.

Justin squealed in delight upon seeing his mother, while Raph tried to determine if something was wrong with her.

"Sure, he wants you anyway" Casey said with a smirk before quite literally tossing Justin halfway across the room and over to the door.

Panicked, Karai scrambled to adjust her position and managed to catch the giggling little boy, who apparently thought his father's actions were hilarious.

"Don't ever do that again," she said, releasing a sigh of relief as she did so.

"Why not?" Casey chuckled, "If he's going to be a ninja then he better get used to flying"

"Ok one ninja's don't fly-" Karai began

"Jumping off buildings and not dying, whatever you call it" Casey interrupted, though Karai continued like he never said anything.

"Two, who says he's going to be a ninja?" She asked with a slightly amused smirk as she set her son on the ground, truthfully she had never put any thought into Justin training in ninjistu. Between the shock of him in general and everything else that had happened recently she never really considered much of his future, unless it was keeping her up at night with generally less than good thoughts.

"Come on Karai, the kid was born… ok not born but you know what I mean, it runs in the family." Casey said, awkwardly stuttering around his poor choice of words.

"Oh yeah, he's just dying to take down the Kraang" Karai sarcastically remarked when her eyes fell on her son lying on the floor, stuffing his bare foot inside of his mouth.

"He's practicing flexibility!" Casey defended while Raph and Karai just laughed.

"He's got your brains Jones" Raph mocked and Casey glared at him

"Hey Casey turned a kitchen utensil into a taser, I think we're in pretty good shape if Justin has his brains" Karai defended and Casey had to hide his smile while Raph just smirked.

"Alright I know when I'm outnumbered," he said as he walked out of the room, however he turned back once he reached the doorway. "But don't do anything stupid" he warned before he walked out and as a result Karai stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"So what's up?" Casey asked but his smile faded when he noticed that so had Karai's and she slumped beside him on the bed. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out at first.

"I'm not very good at telling people my problems, if you even want to hear it that is." She confessed and Casey just smiled as he placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Course I want to hear it, and I'm not great at talking about my feelings either so don't worry about it." He encouraged and Karai couldn't help but smile before she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Do you care if I do this?" She asked quietly as he began playing with her fingers.

"Of course I don't" he chuckled, noticing how she in return was absently playing with his fingers.

For a minute it was quiet, Casey's eyes fix on his girlfriend and her eyes fixed on their son who was contently lying on his back on the floor and chewing on the ear of some stuffed animal.

"I told you she had a crush on you" Karai finally muttered and Casey sighed, resting the side of his head against hers.

"What did she say to you?" He asked and he felt her shrug

"Does it matter?" She asked and with concern written all over his face he pulled away slightly from their embrace and looked at her.

"Karai, of course it matters" he said, "now come on what did she say to you?" He pressed and she sighed.

"I'm scared" her voice was practically a whisper, and over the sounds of Justin grunting as he grew frustrated with his toy Casey almost didn't hear her, almost. "I barely know how to take care of myself; I act like I know what I'm doing but I don't have a clue" her voice was beginning to crack and she sniffled. "Three months ago I was in the foot and I only had to worry about myself. Now I'm supposed to just suddenly know how to be a sister and a mother, and I didn't have a mother so I have no idea what I'm doing-" she began to cry through her words but Casey cut her off by removing his hand from hers and wrapping that arm around her in a hug.

"Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush" he quickly said in a whisper of a voice as he pulled her closer. He ran a hand through her short hair as he tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, look I know it's scary. I was nine when Angel was born, I didn't know how to be a brother. One day it was just my action figures and me and the next mom was telling me I had to be a good example for this kid I didn't even know. As for Justin, you and I are pretty much on the same page." He sighed before kissing the top of her head and then once again smoothing her hair. "But we'll figure it out, don't worry."

They just sat there in silence for a minute or two, the only sound being Karai's light sobs. Finally Justin caught their attention when he toddled over and grabbed onto Karai's ankle. Looking down at him she broke into a grin and laughed slightly as she broke out of Casey's hug and bent over to lift the baby up onto her lap.

"Come here big boy," she murmured sweetly to him.

Casey couldn't help but smile as she held their son tightly against her and laid her cheek against the top of his head, slightly rocking her body back and forth as she played with the ends of his black hair. It's moments like this that Casey loves more than anything. Karai is always so guarded and so closed off; Casey had imagined that she opened up more when she was alone with Justin, but she had never before done so in front of him.

But yet he felt a twinge of guilt when thinking of his sister, because as far as he's concerned he left her for dead.

* * *

But little does Casey know his sister isn't dead. Instead she's standing in an abandoned chamber of New York City's sewer system with the one and only Fishface standing behind her.

"This is where he attacked me," she said, though her enemy was long gone by now.

"Hm" Xever mused as he picked up the tattered remains of a notebook.

"That's mine!" Angel quickly said while the fish opened it.

"Well it's ruined" he remarked, tossing her the book. She caught it and opened it but he was right, all the pages had been torn out and most likely were resting at the bottom of the sewer pool beside them.

"Please, don't leave me alone. What if he comes back?" Angel squeaked, knowing full well that Mr. X's decision to keep her around had been resting on her ability to lead him to the rat.

"Don't worry" a grave voice said from behind them, they both turned to see a very large and muscular man standing before them, The Shredder.

Angel knew who he was, as he was one of the very few drawings in her brother's journal to have been labeled, but she decided to keep that information to herself.

"Angel, this is Master Shredder, leader of the mighty Foot Clan" Mr. X explained to her as he bowed to his master.

Taking the hint she bowed as well, and she could tell that The Shredder was mildly impressed when she knew the proper Japanese etiquette. Of course he would probably be less impressed if he knew she had picked it up from an anime.

"You are a strong child to have survived such a merciless attack," he praised

"Um, thank you Master" Angel squeaked out as she dared to glance up at the frightening man before her.

Shredder took a moment to study the child before him; she was young and small for her age, which Xever claimed to be nine. Her skin had a tan hint to it and the ends of her dark brown hair were dyed a fading pink color. She was mostly made up of skin and bones, and through the clawed holes in her shirt he could see that her ribs were mostly visible to the naked eye. But what impressed him was that she was covered in scars, not to mention starving, yet she showed no pain. Her arms and legs were more bandage than skin yet she showed no effect. Not to mention she was decently disciplined, and out of options.

Angel felt like she was waiting forever, and for what she didn't know. She knew she should fear this man; somehow she didn't think Casey would draw such an intimidating image of him if they were friends. But at the same time she was prepared to beg for his refuge, because no way could she survive another attack like the one she had just suffered.

"How would you like to join The Foot?" Shredder finally spoke; he'd have his work cut out for him with this child. She's already smart, already daring, already disciplined. All she needs is a little proper training.

Slowly Angel raised her head to look up at the man before her and she swallowed, _I better not regret this,_ she thought to herself.

"It would be my honor Master".


	23. A House Divided

Karai and April avoided each other at all costs. Karai slept in Casey and Raph's room, which amazingly Raph didn't object to. She woke up early with Justin and ate her breakfast with him then was out of the kitchen before April got there. While April was eating breakfast Karai went upstairs and got dressed, then for the rest of the day the two girls avoided each other everywhere they went. This lasted a week until it was Thursday night at supper and, as usual, the two sat at as opposite from each other as they could get. The entire table was silent, as it usually was these days. But then Mikey slammed down his fist and caused everyone to jump.

"I can't take it anymore!" He exclaimed, "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of walking around like our lives are over, even Justin's stopped smiling! I miss Sensei too, and yeah, Leo's in a coma. But neither of them would want us to go on like this! They'd want us to train, to make a plan, to take back New York!" He stopped his rant, waiting for anybody to respond.

"And they'd want you two to grow up" Raph muttered and all eyes suddenly fell on him. "April and Karai" he spat, "Karai I have nothing against you sleeping in my room, but I am sick of you two acting like those airheads in the movies that YOU make fun of!" He began to shout as he stood up; of course his rising voice caused Justin to start whimpering.

Karai moved to sooth her baby but Casey wasn't about to let her distract herself, because Raph's right, and so he lifted Justin from the highchair and held him firmly on his lap.

"Look, I don't expect you two to be best friends, but you're living in the same house. If you don't want to share a room anymore that's fine, but stop acting like you're freaking twelve years old and get along!" He bellowed; this was followed by silence.

"Fine" April finally said, "we have more important things to worry about and if Donnie and Casey can get along enough to share the garage then Karai and I can tolerate each other enough to live in the same house." She agreed

"Actually Don and me have been getting along fine" Casey offered, boy was that the wrong thing to say.

April felt the hot tears pricking at the edges of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away as she stood up.

"I'm uh, I'm going to go take a walk," she said before leaving the table.

"April wait!" Donnie called as he chased after the red head. This left the other's to just sit in silence before, finally, Karai got up too.

* * *

"April!" Donnie called out to his friend as she trekked across the yard.

April stopped, but Donnie didn't see that she sighed; she did NOT need him right now.

"What Donnie?" She snapped, turning on her heel and forcing a smile.

"Look I know you're upset-" Donnie started

"Upset? Why would I be upset?!" The red head exclaimed, "Just because my best friend is dating the girl who attacked me? Or because I'm supposed to be sharing a room with her?" She asked and Donnie sighed, he hates arguing with April.

"April, Karai's been through a lot-" he began

"I don't care!" She shouted and Donnie couldn't help but look at her in complete and total shock. "I don't care what it is she's been through. We've all been through a lot, I don't see why her past should matter when the rest of ours doesn't!" She screamed and the next word didn't come from Donnie, but rather from a voice behind him.

"For once I agree" April had been so caught up in her rage that she hadn't even noticed Karai come out of the house and approach them, but now she did.

Karai was standing there, walking towards the two bickering teenagers with an almost regretful look on her face. "She's right, we've all been through a lot and I'm tired of you guys being careful of what you say around me." She continued

"But you-" Donnie began but he was cut off.

"Would rather forget it," she said to him in an almost icy voice; despite her calm demeanor she was still angry. "I'm here now, I'm sorry for what I did before, end of story. We've got bigger things to deal with aside from who's dating who in this house." She continued before fixing her icy glare onto April, trying to soften it as much as she could. "Now I want to forget my past more than anyone, and I know the guys can learn to ignore it. But it won't count for anything unless you stop bringing up the day I attacked you every time we disagree. I'm sorry; if I could go back in time I'd stop myself. But I can't, sorry is the best I can give you." She explained to April who only glared back at her for a moment, thinking it through.

She supposed it isn't really fair of her to bring up Karai's past all the time, especially when she lets it bother her that everyone else does. Plus, much as she hates to admit it, she is just jealous. She had feelings for Casey, but she was always too worried about other things to even think about a relationship. So if he's moved on then she has to let him.

"Ok, and I'm sorry about how I acted." She finally apologized and Karai smiled just the smallest hint of a genuine smile.

* * *

Blood. It had scared the girl at first, when Shredder began training her and wouldn't let her quit even after she began bleeding. But now, even though it had only been a month since she came to him, Angel paid no mind to the blood that trailed her skin during training. Her wounds were still present; but she never showed pain when he hit them. He went easy on her, of course, just like he had when Karai was so young. Normally Shredder didn't train a new recruit himself, but since he replaced most of the Foot Clan members with robots those who normally trained recruits had been let go. Ever since the Kraang took control of New York activity had been pleasantly quiet. Therefor, Shredder would've liked to have Tiger Claw training his latest recruit but the cat had much more important matters to deal with; leading a search throughout the sewers for Splinter.

"Why are you looking for the rat?" Angel asked after her daily training session, Shredder had just started to leave and she was sitting on the bench wrapping her bloody knuckles. "I'm nine, not stupid. I know it's not because he attacked an innocent girl." She said innocent as if it were a joke.

She didn't really expect Shredder to actually turn back, but he did.

"That rat was once a man known as Hamato Yoshi, he took everything from me." The Shredder spat and Angel nodded.

"Good to know" she said and then Shredder left, leaving Angel to her thoughts.

Hamato Yoshi took everything from Shredder, what everything consists of she's not sure. But if he's the bad guy, then what was Casey involved in? Not to mention the name Hamato Yoshi was ringing a bell for the young girl. She had heard that name once before, but where?

"Jen!" She quietly gasped when it hit her; the night before Casey disappeared she had been lying awake in bed when she heard Jen in the living room with her father. She hadn't been able to make out what they were saying but out of the few words she caught she remembered Karai's name along with the name Hamato Yoshi.

This just doesn't make sense. Angel thought she knew everything about her brother, but between his mysterious journal, his even more mysterious girlfriend, and his disappearance, she's not so sure.

* * *

"Justin, get out of here" Karai scolded when she found her son standing by the edge of the bathtub. They had been at the farmhouse for three months now, and nothing had changed. Leo is still in a coma, and Raph is still sitting faithfully at his side.

"It's cool, he's keeping me company" Raph said, taking his eyes off the little boy for a moment so he could face Karai, who was smirking at him.

"Well next time could you please tell me before you abduct my kid? I've been looking everywhere for him." She requested

"Hey I didn't abduct your kid, your kid wandered in here" Raph defended and Karai couldn't help but role her eyes as she sat down on the ground.

"You ever hear what he did when you were out cold?" Raph asked, his face suddenly serious.

"It was the first time he called me mama, don't remind me that I was unconscious." Karai answered but Raph shook his head.

"Before that he was sitting up in the front with April, when he figured out what was going on in the back he practically threw himself over the seat. Then, after he put all his weight on your ribs, he wouldn't take his eyes off you." The red-banded turtle said to her, "he's a good kid" he concluded.

"He's getting smarter too" Karai remarked, "hey Justin" she called, causing her baby to turn around. He must have either not noticed she was there before or just then decided that he wanted her because before Karai could say anything else a smile lit up the little boy's face and he excitedly toddled as quick as he could over to her before basically face planting into her lap.

"Ok" Karai laughed as she lifted up her giggling son and turned him around. "Justin, who's that? Who's that?" She asked in a very excited baby voice as she pointed to Raph. "Who's that?" She asked again.

"You know when we first met I somehow never pictured you using a baby voice under any circumstances" Raph joked

"Yeah well a lot has happened since we first met that I never would've pictured" Karai shot back at him. "Who's that Justin? Who's that? Is that Uncle Raph? Huh? Who's that?" She continued to prompt her son.

"Give it a rest, he's not going to-"

"Unule Raph" Raph stopped cold when Justin interrupter him. He looked at the baby, who was looking back up at him with big eyes.

"Good job" Karai congratulated and Justin turned his head, and then pointed to Leo.

"Unule Leo" He gurgled and while Raph looked at Karai she just looked at Justin, and then at Raph.

"I didn't teach him that," she said before her face broke out in a wide grin and turned back to Justin. "Yes, that's right!" She exclaimed before setting the boy back on his feet and watching him hurry back over to the edge of the tub.

"I guess he's been listening when we talk" Raph said

"Yeah but we never refer to Leo as Uncle" Karai pointed out and Raph shrugged

"Probably just assumed" he said and Karai only smiled as she turned her attention back to her son. "He really has made you go soft" Raph chuckled

"Maybe, but I can still pin you down in two seconds flat" Karai shot back, her proud smile still on her face.

"Unle Leo! Unle Leo!" Justin kept going

"Yes kid that's Uncle Leo" Raph said

"Momma, Unle Leo!" Justin continued urgently, practically bouncing in his spot. Karai and Raph each stood up and approached the tub, for the first time noticing Leo's eyes opening and closing as they adjusted to the light.

* * *

It had been three months. Three months since she joined the Foot Clan, and by now Angel couldn't take it anymore. She could take the harsh training, she could take the patrols into the sewers, and heck she actually liked keeping track of her battle scars. But what she couldn't take anymore was discreetly trying to figure out how Casey was ever wrapped up in any of this. So finally, one day, she resorted to desperation; she asked.

"What is so important Angel?" Shredder demanded of the girl bowing before him.

"I need answers Master" she replied as she stood, though she nearly regretted it when she saw her Master's eyes narrow.

"What answers are you looking for?" He demanded

"My, my brother Master" she stuttered, "My brother. Before the Kraang invaded his girlfriend was kidnapped and a month later he disappeared with his son. He called and said that everything was fine but my dad had a friend who was a private investigator. I heard her mention Hamato Yoshi's name once." She confessed and Shredder stood, then began to make his way down the steps.

Angel knew by now, that this was her cue to get back on her knees and bow her head.

"What was the name of your brother?" The Shredder inquired

"Casey, Casey Jones" Angel fearfully admitted, her fear only growing when Shredder said nothing.

"Rise" Shredder demanded and once she snapped out of her shock Angel did as she was ordered. "Hamato Yoshi took the love of my life from me, then my daughter deserted me in order to join him, with the assistance of your brother." He explained

"Wait hang on, my brother, my dipstick brother, was helping Hamato Yoshi?" Angel asked in disbelief.

"Your brother, my daughter, and the rest of the Hamato Clan, are suspected to have escaped the Kraang. Should they ever return would you help me get them to see the light?" Shredder asked, well more like tested.

But Angel just grinned evilly

"It would be my pleasure".

* * *

"Three months? I've been out that long?!" Leo exclaimed in surprise as Donnie examined him in the living room.

"You had us worried sick Leo, Raph barely slept" April told him

"Ah it was nothing" his younger brother shrugged.

"So why does he sound different?" Casey asked from his seat in the chair

"Maybe he finally hit puberty" Karai commented and ordinarily Leo would've rolled his eyes at his big sister, but he was a little too distracted by the fact that she was sitting on Casey's lap.

"Ha ha Karai" Donnie said dryly as he moved his stethoscope "he sustained damage to his throat, and pretty much everywhere else for that matter." He explained.

Just then Leo felt a small hand on his leg and found himself smiling down at Justin.

"You've certainly gotten big" he remarked as the little boy stared up not at him, but at the couch.

"He's trying to figure out how to get up there," Casey said from his seat

"Here" Donnie said as he lifted the baby up onto the couch, clearly not in the mood to worry about him falling over and hitting his head against the coffee table.

Once Justin was on the couch he pulled himself to his feet and clutched to Leo's arm for support.

"Justin be careful" Karai scolded, looking like she was ready to get up and remove her son from the couch.

"He's fine" Leo assured her as her little boy planted a kiss to the side of his head.

"Aw he's so sweet" Mikey gushed and Leo chuckled

"Yeah, are we sure he's the spawn of you two?" He asked the two humans sitting over in the chair.

"Very funny" Karai replied and Leo couldn't help but notice that at some point after she shifted her position slightly while scolding Justin Casey had wrapped his arms around her waist, and she didn't seen to object one bit.


	24. Accusations

Leo didn't want to be rude and just outright ask, but he kept his eye on Casey and Karai for the rest of the day. For the most part things seemed business as usual and he was beginning to think that maybe earlier wasn't as it seemed, maybe Karai was just trying to get on her friend's nerves. Then again this is Casey and Karai he's talking about, putting his suspicions to rest wasn't going to be as easy as catching them holding hands. He spent the rest of that day on the couch, per Donnie's request, and for the most part spent it watching some new Crognard show with Mikey. He knew that asking Mikey about Casey and Karai's relationship status could be a bad idea, it's probably something he should just discuss with Karai. However he was growing more and more curious by the minute and just when he was about to give in and ask his brother, Karai walked in.

"Well it took an hour but I finally got Justin to take a nap" she huffed as she collapsed in the seat next to Leo on the couch.

"Ninja's don't take naps!" Mikey joked

"Well he's not a ninja" Karai shot back

"Wait, you're not going to train your son to be a ninja?" Leo questioned, shocked that Karai of all people would refuse to train her child.

"I don't know, Casey and I are still discussing that. But he's not a ninja right now, and besides all babies take naps." She defended and Leo smirked

"Let me guess, Casey wants to teach Justin how to street fight, not actual ninjistu." Leo said but before Karai could answer him Mikey beat her to it.

"Actually Casey's all for training him, Karai's the one fighting it." The young turtle said and Leo just looked quizzically at the girl sitting next to him, who looked torn between embarrassment and anger.

"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" The leader asked and Karai huffed.

"I'm not fighting it I'm just trying to figure out what's best" she defended

"Dude look at our lives, it's best that he's able to defend himself" Mikey said and Leo nodded.

"For once I agree with Mikey, Justin needs to grow up knowing how to defend himself" he said but Karai growled in response.

"For the last time I never said I'm against training him! I just said that there are things to consider," she said bitterly

"Like what?" Mikey asked, causing Karai to groan

"Just forget it," she muttered as she got up and left the couch.

"What's with her?" Leo asked but Mikey only shrugged

"Don't know" he replied simply before turning his attention back to the TV.

"Do you think Casey would know?" Leo asked, he just couldn't take it anymore; he had to know.

"Maybe" Mikey replied with a shrug and Leo sighed, he was going to get nowhere with his little brother unless he outright asked.

But he didn't want to do that; it just feels wrong. It shouldn't, and Leo knows it shouldn't. He should be able to ask his brother what went on between their sister and their friend while he was in a coma. But he just felt like if he asked Mikey then it would just be awkward.

"I'm gonna go see Donnie, I need to ask him if he's sure that medicine is safe." He said as he got up and, using his crutch, hobbled out of the house. He needed to distract himself from his thoughts and frankly he did need to talk to Donnie about that medicine. Not that he believed he could die from the substance, but it didn't seem to be helping and it tasted disgusting, basically he was trying to get out of taking it.

He hobbled into the open door of the barn, expecting to find Donnie. But what he found instead not only stopped him in his tracks, but also confirmed his suspicions. He wanted to look away, he really did, but he couldn't take his eyes away. There, sitting on the tailgate of a rusted old truck, Casey and Karai were kissing. They weren't full on making out, and in reality the kiss he felt he watched for an eternity only lasted maybe about three seconds, but even though he knew it was unjustified Leo felt betrayed.

* * *

"Just forget it," Karai muttered as she got up and left the couch.

She walked out of the living room and found herself outside and marching off towards the barn.

She wasn't sure exactly what drew her to the barn, other than the knowledge that her boyfriend was currently out there. A part of her wondered when she started opening up to Casey, she supposed it started that week after they started dating and she and April had a fight.

 _Raph's right, I am going soft_ she thought to herself as she approached the barn.

Inside she found that Donnie wasn't there; probably out in the woods gathering some kind of samples. Casey, on the other hand had his legs sticking out from under the truck. Crossing over to the truck Karai climbed into the back and lay on her stomach, peering through the hole on the floor of the rusted truck bed through which she could see Casey's very annoyed face focused on a loose bolt.

"Geez Karai I thought I asked you to warn me before you climb up there. I hate when this thing starts creaking with no reason." He said but Karai paid no attention, she knew he always saw her coming.

"Leo and Mikey agree with you, they think Justin should be trained in ninjistu." She said

"Well he should, why do you look so upset?" He asked as he finished his current task but Karai only sighed in response. "Ok, hold on" Casey said before pushing himself out from under the truck. He then stood up and wiped the grease of his hands as Karai sat up on the tailgate.

"I'm sorry," she muttered

"Don't be sorry" Casey said as he took a seat next to her "now come on, what's got you so nervous about this?" He asked

"A better question is how are you not nervous about it?" She asked with a small laugh as she attempted to brush off her more than obvious apprehensiveness to train her son to one day become a ninja.

"I am, Karai the idea freaks me out and gives me nightmares. I don't want Justin fighting the Foot or the Kraang, and I'm hoping he'll never have to. But regardless he needs to know how." Casey said, admittedly the idea of Justin needing to grow up knowing how to take down those monsters made his blood boil, but its reality.

"I know" Karai admitted, "it's just if something ever happens to him-" she began but Casey grabbed her hand and cut her off.

"Don't think like that. Look right now he's definitely still riding around in your baby sling but even when he's older it's not like we'll be sending him out on his own. We'll be right there" he assured her but he could tell where her thoughts were headed now, "We will be there," he said firmly.

"I hope you're right" she said and Casey chuckled

"Of course I'm right, you and me are pretty hard to kill" he joked and Karai laughed

"That I'll give you Jones," she said and, though she didn't know why and she certainly didn't regret it, the next thing Karai knew she was kissing him

It wasn't a long kiss, two maybe three seconds, but when she pulled away she became painfully aware that they were no longer alone. Turning her head just slightly she found she was right, Leo was standing wide-eyed in the doorway.

"Um, I'm gonna get back to work." Casey awkwardly stuttered as he reclaimed his position on the old skateboard and wheeled back underneath the even older truck.

Meanwhile Karai hopped off the tailgate and approached her younger brother, who thankfully had the sense to not try and hobble away.

"Leo I, we… we didn't want you to find out like this" she stuttered and after a moment of shock induced silence, a wide and clearly forced grin broke out across Leo's face.

"No it's great! I mean, yeah I wish you would've just told me but, hey maybe you just didn't get to it yet. I mean have only been awake for a couple hours, it's great Karai, really." He said and Karai stared at him surprised, she hadn't expected him to even pretend to take it this well.

"Are you sure?" She asked but he nodded, very enthusiastically.

"Yeah of course, it's great, really great," he said again.

* * *

The following night, however, told a different story. During the day Leo and Raph went out into the woods to try and get Leo "back on his feet"; they came literally crawling back after a half hour.

"Told you training was a bad idea" Karai said from her position on the floor where she was lying on her back, Justin balanced up in the air on her legs as if he were an airplane.

Raph simply ignored her as he helped Leo onto the couch before he walked off and once again left the house.

"For the record we didn't do any training" Leo said as Karai put Justin down, the little boy happily ran off, having spotted one of his toys while he was in the air.

"Didn't get that far?" Karai smirked, standing up and stretching.

"Not even close" Leo admitted before changing the topic, "So, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you and Casey happen?" He questioned and Karai gave it a minute or two of thought.

"Well there was a little bit of a misunderstanding, and that pretty much forced a conversation, and then I don't know we just decided that maybe we should try being more than friends." She explained, although really Karai wasn't entirely sure how it happened, just that it did.

"What was this misunderstanding?" Leo asked, now he was really curious.

"Believe me, you don't want to know" Karai chuckled as she sat down next to him

"Why not?" Leo asked

"Because part of the misunderstanding was everybody flipped out," Karai answered and before another word could be said Casey walked through the front door.

"Hey Casey" Leo called, somewhat reveling in the slight panic on his sister's face.

"Yeah?" Casey asked, standing in the doorway

"Karai won't tell me what misunderstanding led to you two going out" The injured turtle informed his friend who simply smirked.

"Doesn't surprise me, she won't even tell you that you weren't the only one in a coma when we left New York." He said as he came in, climbed over the back of the couch, and took a seat next to his girlfriend.

"What?!" Leo demanded

"I was not in a coma" Karai defended at the same time.

Casey simply smirked at her before pulling her into his lap, much to her protest.

"Hey! What are you? Stop! Stop!" She laughed as she tried to struggle out of his grasp when he began lightly tickling her, obviously not as hard as she could if she really wanted to get free.

Casey laughed to, and even Leo couldn't help but smile a little at seeing Karai so happy, she deserved to be happy like this, so why was a part of him wishing the scene before him would stop?

"Hey stop!" Karai protested a little more forcefully when she felt her boyfriend's fingers lightly curl under the fabric of her shirt as he tried to pull it up just a little. She knew what he was doing, and no he wasn't trying to undress her. But she didn't want to worry Leo, and Casey was about to do just that.

When he finally won Casey was leaning back, his squirming girlfriend in his lap, and her shirt pulled up in order to expose her stomach. She was trying to pull it back down, not wanting to worry Leo probably, but it didn't matter, he had already seen. Casey knew he saw, the turtle's blue eyes were fixated on the thick red lines that ran across the girl's unusually rough skin.

"Miss nerves of steel here didn't think she should tell you she was out cold for almost two days after enough electricity to stun Kraang Prime passed through her." The hockey player explained, finally allowing Karai enough freedom to pull down her shirt.

"I was out for one day, he was out for three months" Karai snapped but Casey only rolled his eyes.

"He still has a right to know his sister got hurt," he argued but Karai just rolled her eyes and left.

* * *

Later that night Raph was still gone, and the others were starting to get worried.

"He's been gone for hours," Mikey groaned as their entire group stood on the edge of the forest shouting for the hothead.

"We'll split up, Donnie and Karai you take that way. April, Mikey, and Casey you take that way" Leo ordered, pointing in two totally different directions.

"Split up?! Are you loco homie?" Mikey question but Leo just pointed back in the direction he told Mikey to go, "April, Mikey, and Casey. You take that way." He repeated, a finality tone to his voice.

"What about you?" April questioned

"I'll wait at the farmhouse in case Raph comes back, I won't be much use out there anyway." Leo answered as he turned around and limped away. Everyone pitied the leader, but at the same time everyone agreed with him. Much as they hate to admit it, he's right. Him going out on a search like this would just slow them down.

"What about Justin?" Casey asked; the baby was currently balanced on Karai's hip.

"He can come with us, Raph's probably the most dangerous thing out here" Karai said and Casey nodded.

"Be careful," he told her

"I will".

* * *

 _Be careful_

 _I will_

That conversation was on a loop in her head. Karai was running, actually she was sprinting through the forest. She had lost the monster already, but she just kept running. That…that… that THING caught her and Donnie off guard. First it's little guard plant dog thing nearly sacred them to death, then they realized the plant dog was Raph! The next thing they knew Donnie was hanging above the ground in some kind of vine trap. Karai tried to get him down, tried to fight the monster that appeared just seconds later, but she couldn't do it with one arm. She knew she should've worn her sling, but she didn't want to waste time in going to grab it. Now that thing had Justin. It also had April and Casey, thanks to Casey she had just barely managed to escape. So now she was running. Running with hot tears streaming down her face. Finally she found herself skidding to a stop at the edge of the forest, not even bothering to ask Leo WHY he was still out here.

"Karai? Karai what happened?" He asked as she caught her breath

"I, I'm not sure. This mutant plant thing-" she began to explain but that was as far as she got before Leo cut her off.

"Mutant?" He asked incredulously, how could there be another mutant all the way out here?

"Yes. It took everyone, and it turned Raph into some kind of dog like plant" she explained and if Leo hadn't seen weirder in the city he would've thought Karai had completely lost it.

"Ok, ok calm down" He said, finally noticing that Karai's lack of oxygen wasn't just from running, she was practically hyperventilating as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Sorry" she said as she struggled to get ahold of herself

"Don't be, just help me walk and we'll go get them," he said and she looked like she was going to protest, but instead she slipped his arm around her shoulders and helped support him.

The two walked in silence through the woods, Karai leading the way to the shed the monster had been hiding out in.

"So, uh, not to pry but how exactly did Casey know about the scars on your stomach?" Leo awkwardly questioned, almost regretting it when Karai huffed in annoyance.

"You know you guys have really dirty minds," she grumbled, though in all fairness her mind can be equally as dirty. "I was lying on the floor with Justin when he started pulling on my shirt, Casey was sitting right there." She explained.

For a minute it was quiet, neither of them really having any clue what to say.

"Just be careful. Casey's my friend but if he ever tries what he did today again-" Leo was cut off not by words, but by the incredulous glare his sister was giving him.

"Leo he was playing around" she snapped, completely appalled that Leo could even think Casey would ever force her into something she didn't want to do.

"No kidding-" Leo spat, and he was going to continue, but Karai wouldn't dare let him.

"Leo I'm serious!" She shouted

"So am I!" He shouted back, of course due to their close proximity to each other they were blowing out one another's eardrums, but they didn't care.

"Leo this is Casey we're talking about! He would never hurt me, and even if he did I can't believe you don't think I could stop him!" She exclaimed, extremely hurt by both accusations.

"You couldn't today!" He shouted

"Do you honestly think I was trying?" Karai demanded and Leo stopped, because he knew she was right. She may have been telling Casey to stop this morning on the couch, but it was no secret that she had allowed him to keep going.

The two just stared at each other, each waiting for the other to say something. But that was when a vine that neither of them saw snaked it's way around Karai's ankle and yanked her to the ground.

"Karai!" Leo shouted but his sister was now not only tied up completely but was also gagged with a vine as she was dragged away into the darkness.

* * *

All that was hours ago. It was now nearing four in the morning and they had already defeated The Creep, as Mikey had decided to call him. Now the priority was fixing Raph, which Donnie was surprisingly optimistic about.

"Ok, you guys win. We'll train Justin" Karai said to Casey, their son sleeping safely in her arms with his head on her shoulder.

Casey just smiled and he went in to give her a hug but stopped himself when he saw the cold glare Leo was giving him out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh, what's with Leo?" He asked in a whisper of a voice, Karai frowned in response

"He just likes being a pain," she grumbled.

Leo heard Karai's response, and he so badly wanted to say something to her, to defend himself. But he wouldn't, because right now he needed to focus on Raph, and she wouldn't listen anyway.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys i just wanted to apologize for the delayed updates, i've been really busy with school lately. Also thanks so much for all the reviews, they really mean a lot to me and i did not think that this story would be this popular! I love reading them, they really make my day!**


	25. It Could be Worse (Maybe)

It was the night following the incident with The Creep; since none of them actually slept the night it happened. But now that The Creep was in a jar and Raph was back to normal everyone could sleep peacefully again, which is somewhat disturbing that they're able to get over such an event so easily. It wasn't the memories of The Creep that was keeping Karai up tonight; it's not even the memories of her son being trapped by that monster. Instead it's Leo. She would never tell anybody, not even Casey, but the fact that Leo was so obviously against her relationship with Casey was killing her. April couldn't hear her, she made sure not to make a sound, but as she lay curled up in her bed there were silent tears streaming down her red face. Leo is her best friend, he saw good in her before he even knew the truth. Then once he learned who she really was he made sure she found out and convinced the guys to save her from Shredder. He was there for her when Justin first came into their family. He listened to her when she talked to him about her dilemma over giving Justin up and he helped make sure that whatever she decided, she decided it for the right reasons. He's always been there for her, and now, now he won't even talk to her!

"It's ok," she mouthed to herself, she wouldn't dare make a sound and risk waking April. "It's ok," she mouthed again before biting her fist in order to keep the noise in.

* * *

As the days passed the tension between Karai, Leo, and Casey did not get much better. Every time the three of them were in the same room both Karai and Casey could feel the judgmental glances Leo was giving over his shoulder. The others would occasionally say something, but asking three of the most bull headed people in the house why they're in some kind of cold war never really works. Things only got worse when, on the one day they realized they couldn't put off cleaning the house anymore, the group found a Kraang base in the basement. Even more surprising they found April's mother inside and while the red head was busy trying to make her mother comfortable in the living room and Mikey was in the kitchen making tea Karai made a break for the back door.

"Where are you going?" Leo's voice demanded from behind her

"Outside," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Look I know you don't care much about how your actions effect other people but-" Leo, though even he knew he was being unfair, tried to lecture her but he stopped when she turned on her heel and stared at him with a death glare.

"I'm sorry, would you rather I stay in here and ruin everything?" She demanded, her voice cold as ice.

"This means a lot to April," Leo tried to tell her

"All the more reason I should get lost." She said matter-of-factly

"Why? Because you're upset that your mom didn't come back?" It didn't surprise her that he said it, what surprised her was how cold and mean his voice was. "Look around Karai, none of us have a mom!" He shouted but she just glared at him again

"Then congratulations, you're better at handling yourself than I am." She said before turning away and leaving out the back.

* * *

Casey waited until Mrs. O'Neil finished her story; he figured his girlfriend probably needed some alone time anyway. Once the story was done, however, he brought Justin outside where they found Karai aggressively beating the punching bag that had been hung from a low branch of a tree.

"Alright buddy, let's hope we don't get hurt." He muttered to the child in his arms as they approached Karai. "Hey," he called to her.

"What do you want Jones?" She demanded as she delivered another kick to the punching bag.

"I want you to lay down," he said and she stopped beating the poor training tool just long enough to turn around and look at him, totally confused.

"What?" She asked.

"Look I know about all the crap Leo's been putting in your head-" he began to say,

"I don't listen to any of that." Karai interrupted.

"Good then you know I'm not trying anything, so would you please just lay down?" He asked again and again Karai looked totally confused but this time she obliged.

"Ok…" she drawled out as she lowered herself to the ground and lay on her back. "There," she said.

"Good," Casey smirked as he moved to stand over her. He then turned to Justin with a playful smile, one that made Karai wonder what was going on even more. "Alright Justin, you ready? Are you ready?" He asked the baby who giggled; Casey took that as a yes. "Alright, go get her!" He said playfully before he practically dropped the baby onto his mother's stomach.

The instant he landed Justin leaned over and began happily feeling his hands around Karai's mouth until she smiled then laughed as she sat up, hugging Justin tightly against her. Casey smirked as Karai's laughter mixed with Justin's while she held him tight and quickly pivoted from left to right, making Justin laugh even more. Then Karai let go of the baby fell back to the ground with a thud, only for Justin to follow her example and drop himself forward. Karai laughed as the baby's head landed on her chest, despite all the air being knocked out of her.

"You're getting too big for this," she said in a playful voice, though she did mean it. Justin probably wasn't going to be able to sit on her stomach for much longer if he was going to be squirming around.

Justin simply giggled before burying his face in her chest and Karai laughed in response before again wrapping her arms around him and shaking him from side to side. Once she was done Justin looked up with a smile, and then put his face down again. This repeated about five or six times before Justin finally just rolled off his mother and onto the ground, then began crying when he landed harder than anticipated.

"That's what you get for just throwing yourself onto the ground." Casey remarked as Karai stood up and took Justin in her arms. It took awhile to calm him and even once he stopped crying he still clung to Karai with no intentions of letting go.

"So what was the point of this?" She asked Casey

"It was the fastest way I know to get you to smile" he responded and for a moment Karai was at a loss for words, NO ONE had ever bothered trying to make her smile before. "So why'd you leave anyway? I asked Leo but I don't think he told me the truth." Casey asked

"Do I even want to know what he told you?" Karai questioned, much as she hates to think about it, Leo's been kind of a jerk to her lately.

"Probably not," Casey agreed and Karai sighed, "I hate how he's been." Casey growled.

"I know, he's acting like… well like Raph the morning I woke up. Only he's not getting over it." Karai grumbled

"Yeah, he's treating us like scum," Casey agreed

"At least he's nice to Justin." Karai pointed out but Casey huffed

"I guess." He grumbled and the two were quiet for a minute.

"He had a point this morning though" Karai mumbled and Casey just looked at her in concern, because with Leo's record lately any 'point' he had could not be a good one. "I don't know what he said to you but he basically told me that I shouldn't be upset April's mom came back when mine didn't." She admitted and Casey's face went from one of concern to one of total sympathy.

"What? Karai that's nuts, you have every right to be a little jealous of April." He assured her

"I am not jealous," she all but snapped but the way Casey was looking at her, telling her that he didn't believe her for a second, forced her to drop her defensive manner. "Ok, maybe a little," she admitted while hiking Justin up in her arms. "But I still shouldn't be. I'm not the only one here whose mom didn't come back." She said and Casey gave her a small smile.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret Karai, we're all a little jealous that April's mom turned out to be frozen in the basement." He said and he couldn't help but chuckle at his own words. "If you need to handle it by coming outside then Leo should get that." He said but Karai still just sighed as she gently rocked Justin back and forth.

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you ever talk about your mom?" She questioned, prompting Casey to put his hands in his pockets as he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Karai began but her boyfriend cut her off.

"No, it's ok. My mom left three years ago. She and dad had been fighting and I was wondering if maybe this time they were really getting divorced, they threatened it enough. But one morning Angel and I woke up to screaming, mom and dad were fighting again. We went into the living room and mom had a suitcase in her hand, she was standing in the doorway. Angel started crying, and she tried to run to mom, but I held her back. She kept squirming, and I kept holding her, mom looked right at me. Then she walked out, didn't even say goodbye."

* * *

Angel had just finished her training for the day, and was back in her quarters when Tiger Claw entered Shredder's throne room.

"Master Shredder, that girl is a danger to us." He said, getting right to the point of his intrusion. "Should the Hamato Clan ever return it won't take long for them to convince her to join their side, she will choose blood!" He continued

"SILENCE!" The Shredder bellowed at his hench-mutant, he stood up from his throne and made his way down to the tiger. "That child is a valuable asset. Should she choose to stay she will be a skilled fighter. Should she betray us, it will not occur to her until after she has led her pathetic brother to us. In the meantime we must find Hamato Yoshi." Shredder growled but Tier Claw only snarled, he was getting fed up with his Master's bull-headedness.

"Master Shredder, if what the girl says is true then killing Hamato Yoshi would only put him out of his misery. A far too merciful fate!" He snapped

"QUIET!" Shredder snapped back, "Don't you think I know that?" He asked, rhetorically of course. "We will have Baxter Stockman fix his mind, then I will get my daughter back." Shredder said and a small part of Tiger Claw wanted to strangle the man; he has got to give up on getting Karai back on their side.

"And how do you propose to do that Master?" He asked instead

"Before Karai last escaped I promised her that her child would die before her eyes. But if given the chance, Tiger Claw, whom do you think she would save given the choice? The rat? Or the Kraang experiment?" He asked and a wicked grin spread across Tiger Claw's face, now he remembers why he joined The Foot.

Little did the two know, Xever was standing behind the main door listening the entire time; and he thought he had a dilemma when Karai was a prisoner.

* * *

"I know this is your room too, but could you please leave me alone right now?" April asked, she didn't know what time it was; she just knew that she should've gone to sleep hours ago.

But how could she after today?

Today her mom had come back to her; only it wasn't her mom. It was an alien, a duplicate; another failed Kraang experiment.

Karai looked up at the girl on the top bunk with pity, and a huge lump of guilt forming in her throat. A part of her, perhaps some trace of childhood that was somehow never beaten out of her, believed that maybe if she had just not been jealous then things really would've been as good as they seemed. Such thoughts were nonsense, of course, that creature was a monster regardless of the kunoichi's personal feelings earlier today. Instead of leaving like April asked Karai made her way up the ladder and sat down on the bed, then she wrapped April in a hug.

Karai at first was hesitant, unsure of where her boundaries lie in this situation. But the instant she had her arms around her, April buried her face in her shoulder and continued the crying she had so clearly been doing before her friend entered.

* * *

A couple weeks passed since that incident, and in those weeks there were plenty more incidents. These incidents included Mikey running away and joining a clan of mutant frogs, four evil dream beavers attacking the guys in their sleep while the humans were forced to save them with the help of a man who despite not having slept in forty years is for some reason allowed possession of a chainsaw, and Casey's precious truck that he finally fixed being destroyed in the fight against a mutant car. In fact the mutant car fiasco had only been last night, but that didn't stop another disaster from beginning bright and early in the morning.

Mikey, Donnie, Raph, Casey, and Karai all landed with a thud as what Donnie insisted was a Chimera dropped them into its nest high up on, of course, a mountain peak.

"Phew, that was close. Maybe it'll leave us alone now," Mikey hopefully suggested, as he stepped on the skeletal remains of what was once a person.

"Uh Karai?" Donnie said, his voice indicating that he dreaded saying whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

"Yeah?" She asked, while surveying the area.

"Uh ok so when Mikey and I stormed outside to help you guys I kind of left April in charge of Justin in the barn" He began, just before the attack Karai had been helping Raph and Casey in trying to rehabilitate Leo. The blue turtle seemed to have very few reservations over hurting the two humans recently. Therefor they had left their son in the care of Donnie and Mikey in the barn.

"Good, then he's safe." Karai said but Donnie just grinned sheepishly

"Well safer than he would be here," The genius gulped

"What?" Casey demanded

"Donnie what happened?" Karai snapped and Donnie forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat before speaking.

"Something may have gone wrong with the Nero-transmitter and April might have sort of gone blind." He sheepishly admitted. The purple-banded turtle cringed and shrunk back in fear, but when no one yelled he dared to open his eyes.

Casey and Karai were both standing before him, their faces set in complete disbelief, but not saying anything.

"Well you're not dead yet," Raph remarked.

"Hang on, let me get this straight." Casey said, finally recovering. "You two," he accused, pointing to Donnie and Mikey. "Left a baby with a girl who can't see?" He asked and Donnie nodded.

"And with all of us up here the only other person around that house is an injured turtle who can barely walk ten feet?" Karai demanded and Mikey chuckled.

"Unless he's moving to punch one of us, then he could probably make it twenty feet." Casey added and although Karai glared at him she knew he wasn't wrong.

"Uh guys!?" Raph said urgently, "We need to move!" He exclaimed; the Chimera was coming back.

* * *

"This is a disaster," Leo stated flatly as he and April moved through the forest.

They had given up already on using Karai's sling for Justin, since apparently he doesn't like it and kept wrestling his way out. They'd have to ask Karai how she keeps him in that thing. So now Leo was leading April along by one arm while she used her other arm to keep ahold on Justin. Not to mention his knee kept giving out.

"Sorry, but he keeps squirming." April reminded, Leo only growled.

"We should've just left him at the house." The turtle grumbled

"Oh yeah leave a baby alone in a house, that's a great idea." The red head sarcastically said.

"What's going to happen?!" Leo snapped, apparently he was serious. "We could've just let him in his crib. He can't climb out, no one's around for miles to kidnap him, and it'd be less dangerous!" He exclaimed

"Not to mention he'd be terrified!" April shouted back.

"He's one! He'd forget about it in less than a day!" Leo shouted back before his knee cramped up again and he went down.

"Leo, do you even hear yourself?" April demanded

"Seething in pain? Yeah it was kind of hard to miss!" The turtle snapped back. Despite being blind and her eyes being completely white April still somehow managed to glare at him disapprovingly.

"I mean about Justin. You're standing here, telling me that we should've left a baby, your own nephew, home alone." She spelled out for him, "Karai and Casey would kill you." She added and Leo snorted in response. "What's been with you guys lately anyway?" April questioned but before Leo could respond Justin began wailing like a siren.

"GAH!" April shouted in surprise, without her eyes she hadn't noticed Justin's face scrunching up until it was too late.

"What's wrong with him?!" Leo exclaimed and April gagged as she identified the problem.

"Uh, we didn't grab any diapers when we left the house did we?" She asked, Leo just face palmed.

* * *

"You guys alright down there?" Raph asked after their group fell in a crevasse and Mikey and Donnie fell a little further than the others.

"Serves them right," Karai commented as Raph hoisted the two up on his grappling hook.

"That water is boiling at two-hundred degrees Fahrenheit, we're in some kind of geiser. It must erupt all the time, that's why these rocks are so smooth." Donnie explained as he and Mikey rejoined the group on the higher ledge.

"So how long we got, an hour?" Raph questioned

"Less, when this thing goes off we're turtle soup." Donnie confessed.

"So how do we get out?" Casey questioned, his voice starting to panic.

"No problem, we'll tie all our grappling hooks together." Raph announced

"One problem," Mikey contradicted, "I forgot my grappling hook" he admitted and judging by the way Donnie started squirming it's a pretty safe bet that he forgot his too.

"Some ninja's," Raph scoffed and Casey nodded in agreement before cracking.

"How was I supposed to know we'd get attacked by a giant mutant?" The hockey player demanded.

"Have you met us? What are the chances we wouldn't?!" Raph demanded in return.

"Ok" Karai sternly interrupted, "we've got your grappling hook and we've got mine. I don't suppose two is enough to get us out of here?" She asked her brother who frowned.

"We can try but doubt it." He conceded, meanwhile Casey just stared at his girlfriend, completely baffled.

"What?" She questioned him

"Where do you even keep that?" He exclaimed; Karai wears sneakers, dark jeans, and a blue zip up sweatshirt with pockets nowhere near deep enough to hold a grappling hook.

"Well normally I keep it on the back of Justin's sling or attached to my belt-" she began but Casey interrupted her.

"Nu-uh! I never see it on your belt!" He exclaimed

"I put it on before we leave the house. Otherwise I just make sure it's near me, I had it on the lawn and grabbed it as we were dragged away." She explained to him, "and on a side note, why do you know off the top of your head what usually is or is not around my waist?" She asked

"Oh come on Karai we've been dating for four months, like you don't know I stare at your-"

"Finish that sentence Jones and I promise I'll throw you headfirst into that boiling water right now!" Raph threatened.

Fifteen minutes later, after Casey wisely shut his mouth, they had managed to combine the two grappling hooks with Mikey's Kusarigama to make a chain just long enough to get them out. Climbing up, however, put them close enough to the opening for the Chimera to cut their rope in its attempt to eat them.

"Guys the waters rising, we're running out of time." Donnie announced after they all landed back on their ledge.

* * *

"This could be a problem," Leo noted as he and April reached the mountainside. Justin, though nothing had been done about his diaper, had long since stopped crying. But now they faced the issue of the three of them getting up the steep and rocky terrain. "We can use a rope for me to lead you, but how are you going to climb with him?" Leo questioned, the results found Leo doing exactly as he said with Justin on his back and clinging very tightly to the edge of his shell.

"We made it, but I don't see the fish-bird-worm thing." Leo announced when they finally reached the top.

"I see clouds, I'm flying through them. Can you see the hole?" April asked as Leo looked around.

"Yeah over here!" He exclaimed when he finally spotted the crevasse. "Guys! Guys do you hear me? Are you alright?" He called down

"Leo! Yes we're all right! But we're running out of time!" Raph's voice came echoing back up.

"Mama! Dada!" Justin called over Leo's shoulder; the leader once again couldn't help but face palm.

"You brought Justin?!" Karai's angry voice came calling to him and Leo gritted his teeth, couldn't she see that they have bigger problems?

"It was that or leave him alone!" The turtle called back.

"Leo! I'm right on top of us!" April suddenly shouted and the next thing the two teenagers knew they were too late to dive out of the way and were in the air.

Suddenly Leo once again found himself wishing they had left Justin at the house because the baby was screaming in his ear while clinging to his shell so tight the leader thought it might crack. Instinctively he reached one arm back to hold Justin in place while completely ignoring the pain in his knee.

"Watch your head Justin," he instructed as he used his other hand to draw one of his katana blades. "Hang on!" He again instructed the baby before he cut free from the monster's hold and then used his grappling hook to land on it's back.

"April, are you ok?" He called down to his friend, while trying to ignore the wailing baby in his ears.

"I'm fine, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" She called back and the next thing Leo knew she appeared on the creature's head after catching her tessen mid-air.

The mutant trashed about in the air and although it was risky Leo managed to maneuver Justin so that he could hold him with one hand against chest where it was easier to protect him.

But then the monster dove into the water.

Leo's eyes went wide, he told April to hold her breath and he tried instructing Justin to do the same, but the crying baby was too upset to notice.

"April, yank its head up!" Leo ordered before the creature managed to hit the lake and when April did as he asked he all but stabbed it, resulting in it pulling up.

 _That was close,_ the leader thought to himself as the creature flew through the trees, getting again closer to the mountain.

"Leo I remember something. When Raph and Casey kicked it in the head it lost balance!" She exclaimed and so they gave that a try, which had some mixed results.

The creature flew headfirst into the hole, resulting in Leo and April being forced to jump off.

"We made it!" April exclaimed as Leo handed Justin over to her.

"Good now let's get them and go home so he'll shut up." Leo didn't mean to be so cold, but the wailing baby was really starting to get on his nerves.

He pushed the now unconscious creature aside just enough for his family to climb out, Karai was the last out.

"Thanks," she said but Leo only frowned at her.

"For what? Saving your lives or looking after your kid?" He spat at her and she frowned, but before she could say anything Raph reminded everyone that the mountain was close to exploding.

* * *

They all made it out alive, and they all made it back home; but to say they were all ok would be taking things too far. Casey discovered this when he went to go tell his girlfriend it was time for dinner and he found her lying on her bed, doing nothing but staring at the mattress above her.

"You know he's right, he didn't have a choice." He said from the doorway,

"I know I just wish he wouldn't hate me." She replied and with a sigh Casey closed the door behind him.

"Karai I don't know what his deal is," He groaned

"I wish I could just forget about him," She admitted and Casey nodded, sometimes he felt the same way.

"Hey," Karai said grabbing his attention as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. "You only know about the scars on my stomach because Justin grabbed my shirt," she began and Casey couldn't help but look completely confused at her.

"Look if you're still mad about when I showed Leo-" he began but she cut him off.

"No, but… you were right earlier. We've been dating for four months and I've already learned that you're never going to see me as weak." She explained, the amount of times Casey's seen her cry and yet never underestimated her afterwards had proved to her that in his eyes even after she broke she was still strong.

"Karai I could never think you're weak," he told her seriously and she nodded, clearly but as far as Casey was concerned inexplicably nervous.

"I know, and my scars rarely hurt me but even so Leo or Raph can't always help but be over protective. Can you just promise not to tell them about this?" She questioned and finally Casey understood. Her stomach was just the beginning, she had scars everywhere she wore armor, which was basically her entire body.

"I promise," he swore and he meant it, Karai's not stupid. She can decide for herself when she can or can't do something and a few marks wasn't going to affect her.

Then, for the first time, she unzipped her sweatshirt and allowed it to slide off her arms, revealing the long trails of red that covered them. She kicked off her shoes, though her feet were almost unharmed save for a few small scars on the sides and one particularly nasty one. Casey almost turned away when she slid down her pants, which she noticed of course.

"Don't worry, this is as far as it's going." She smirked before standing up straight again, allowing Casey to see the long red trails that ran along her skin. "I'm just rolling it up," she assured him as she began pulling at her shirt, then she turned around to reveal the worst part of her body.

Much like every other part of her body that she normally kept covered her skin was rough and hard, but the scarring was the worst. Her shirt was still covering half of it but on the center of her back was a big pink circularish mark from where the electricity entered her body.

"Please don't tell," she said again as she put her shirt down and turned back to Casey.

"I won't, you know me better than that. Now put your pants back on so we can go to dinner." He chuckled.

* * *

Unbeknownst to those two, however, the rest of their family grew impatient waiting for them and Leo went to get them himself. He was standing outside the door, about to knock, when he heard.

"Please don't tell,"

"I won't, you know me better than that. Now put your pants back on so we can go to dinner."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! So first off i just want to say thanks again for the reviews, i love reading them! Second in addition to being busy with school another reason these last few updates have been a bit later is because i'm trying to make the chapters longer. I just want to know if you guys like the longer chapters, even if it means waiting a few extra days for an update. Obviously i'm trying to get them up as soon as possible but longer chapters take longer to write. With the shorter chapters i think i was usually updating every other day, and the longer ones looks like it would be every four or five days. Just can you guys please tell me which you prefer? Thanks!**


	26. Vision Quest

"Those two are going to kill each other," Raph remarked. It had been almost a week since the Chimera incident and five minutes ago Leo had returned from the woods saying that it was time the Hamato siblings went on a spirit journey. He then tried telling Karai that she can't go, and as a result the two were now circling each other as if they were about to spar; or maybe battle is a better word.

"I don't get it, they used to be such good friends." Donnie commented and Raph grunted.

"Yeah and that was BEFORE Karai was on our side," the older turtle said to his immediately younger brother.

"I'm the leader and I say you're staying!" Leo shouted as the fight between him and Karai began.

"I'm the oldest and I say I'm going!" Karai shouted back as they pushed their swords together, each desperately trying to knock the other off balance.

"Being the oldest doesn't mean anything!" Leo insisted; drawing his sword back quick enough to send Karai back a few feet.

"Leo my inner peace is more messed up then the four of yours put together, I need to go." Karai tired to reason and as much as Leo hated to admit it, she was right. All the turmoil she's been through in her life, especially recently, has left her spirit more neglected than any of them; she needs to go more than anyone.

But at the same time Leo will never get any clarity of she goes. He needs to be away from her, to forget all the things she's done. He needs to be away from her relationship with Casey; granted Casey won't be there but she will and that's enough.

"You'll never be able to focus!" He shouted at her while swinging his sword, Karai dodged the attack but surprisingly she stopped after that.

She stood rooted in her spot, placing her Tanto back in its sheath and staring at Leo's seething form in confusion.

"Why wouldn't I be able to focus?" She questioned, that was probably the first time all day she had spoken to him in a normal voice.

Following her example and putting away his sword Leo shot a glance over at Justin.

"You're a mom now. You'll be too worried about Justin and whether or not he's ok." He explained and Karai crossed her arms over her chest, knowing that her son wasn't the reason Leo didn't want her going.

"Leo I'll be fine," she said with a laugh, because really her brother is a terrible liar.

But Leo only shook his head; he at least partially believed his statement. "No you won't. Meditation isn't exactly your strong suit. You'll get bored, then you'll start thinking that you'd rather be here, then that's all you'll be thinking, and then you coming will have been a total waste of time." He said but Karai only rolled her eyes.

"I'm going, end of story." She said and with that she walked away, not giving Leo a chance to argue.

* * *

The next three days the five Hamato siblings camped out in the woods, Leo and Karai glaring angrily at each other every five seconds. Tonight was no different then the past few nights, Mikey was complaining, Leo was glaring, and admittedly Karai was biting her tongue to keep from admitting how much she'd rather be home putting Justin to bed right now. Everything was ordinary, until the fire turned blue.

Understandably frightened all five of them jumped back and yet somehow relaxed when the image of their father appeared in the flames.

"Master Splinter," They all said in unison

"Are you like… a ghost?" Mikey squeaked, unconsciously nuzzling closer to Karai.

"My spirit has become detached from my body, but that body still lives." Splinter explained and all five of his children collectively breathed in a sigh of relief.

"Where are you Sensei? Let us help you!" Leo exclaimed, standing faster than any of his siblings had seen him move since before his solo battle against The Foot.

"You can not help me, there is much you must overcome. If you can not find your inner spiritual strength you will not stand a chance against the Shredder" He explained. He then proceeded to give each of his children their own unique instructions for their quests, the next morning they split up.

* * *

A part of Leo was glad to have disbanded from his siblings, or more specifically his sister. He knows he's being unfair to her, but he just can't help it. Every time he thinks of her he thinks about how she didn't tell him. They were practically best friends and she didn't tell him about her relationship with Casey! Sure a part of him is jealous, but she's his sister so he has to get over that.

"I wonder if this is how Raph feels all the time," the turtle grumbled to himself, ever since he discovered Karai and Casey's relationship he'd been angry all the time. It's unbearable, he wants to stop but he just can't figure out how!

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice he had had wandered onto an old rope bridge until, of all things, a Foot Bot came and attacked him.

He took it down quickly, of course, but the sheer impossibility of the attacker made him wonder. But he didn't have time to think about it, because as soon as the bot was down he noticed more along the Cliffside firing arrows at him. Taking arrows from his own quiver Leo worked hard to disarm them and before he could even worry about behind him he felt something bump against his back.

He glanced over his shoulder, just long enough to confirm whom it was firing arrows by his side.

"We split up Karai, what are you doing here?" He demanded of her,

"Saving your butt fearless." She snapped in response, barrowing one of Raph's favorite nicknames for the leader. "I saw a Foot Bot and starting firing, didn't even see you until I backed up against you." She explained much more seriously.

"Well I was here first Karai so go fight your demons somewhere else," Leo said as he notched another arrow.

"Well I was born first, and I know you said that doesn't count for anything but if you're going to be this immature about everything then so am I. Besides I don't have any other cards up my sleeve." Karai continued as she took out another Foot Bot.

"I have not been immature!" Leo snapped and Karai scoffed

"Please. You haven't spoken to me in weeks and when you do you're angry. All because you don't like me dating Casey!" She shouted back.

"It's not that I don't like it." Leo said as he took out what appeared to be the last of the Foot Bots. "It's just that with all that's been going I wish you would focus on something other than getting knocked up for real." Maybe he shouldn't have said that.

Karai's eye's instantly narrowed as she leaned closer to him, consciously stopping herself from grabbing her Tanto.

"Ok first of all yes I have slept in the same bed as Casey before, but that's as far as we've gone! Second you are in no position to lecture me about being unfocused when ever since you found out about Casey and me you've been-" she couldn't finish, because there were more Foot Bots that the two didn't see, Foot Bots who cut the bridge.

Leo acted on instinct as they fell, grabbing Karai by the wrist with one hand and grabbing the rope with the other. He swung them over to the mountainside and didn't release his grip on his sister until they both had their feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Thanks," she said, her eyes wide with surprise.

"You're welcome, but we're not done talking about this." Leo quickly said

"I think you are," A booming and bone chilling voice said from behind him, slowly both teens turned around to see the Shredder.

The next thing Leo and Karai knew they were running up the mountain for their lives, which did not end well for Leo when his leg gave out.

"Leo!" Karai exclaimed as her brother picked himself back up.

"Oh so now you care," He sarcastically spat

Karai opened her mouth to say something but just then Shredder appeared seemingly out of nowhere and attacked. The Kunoichi just barely managed to whip out her sword in time to clash it against his blades and because of this he knocked her back, though not off her feet.

"If you will not rejoin me daughter, then you will perish!" He bellowed in her face.

"For the last time, I. Am not. Your. DAUGHTER!" She shouted at him and this defiance was met with a swift jab to her gut by Shredder's knee. This sent Karai stumbling back, clutching her stomach as she fought the slight urge to vomit from the force.

"I have got to stop falling for that," she grumbled to herself.

Meanwhile Leo was charging up behind Shredder but the ninja master whirled around in more than enough time to grab the turtle by the wrist and throw him over his shoulder, letting him land not too far from Karai.

"This isn't working," He said as he stood up.

"No kidding," Karai agreed.

"We'll never take him down fighting separately, we need to work together." Leo said and Karai nodded in agreement.

"Ok then what's the plan?" She asked,

"I don't know; why don't you make the plan? You're older" Leo suggested, the smugness way beyond evident in his voice.

"Are we seriously doing this again?" Karai demanded, but Leo didn't have a chance to answer because while they were arguing Shredder had ventured closer and he now grabbed Leo by the straps of his katana holder and Karai by the fabric of her sweatshirt.

He held them both high above his head, and they could easily envision the evil smirk behind his mask.

"This is too easy," he remarked as he threw them so far they almost tumbled off the side of the mountain.

"Fine you want me to make the plan?" Karai demanded as they got to their feet, "tell me what the heck is your problem!" She exclaimed just as the two of them began dodging more attacks from The Shredder.

"That's not a plan!" Leo criticized

"Really? Because we're never going to win if we're too busy fighting each other!" She shouted at him

"I'm not fighting you, I'm just mad at you." He defended, not that it was much of a defense.

"Well tell me why!" Karai demanded as she sent an arrow flying into the side of Shredder's helmet, disorienting him enough for her and Leo to run a little higher up the mountain and crouch down behind a very large group of rocks. "Tell me why," She said again, much softer this time but every bit as serious as the first.

Leo sighed, "Well first off you lied to me. I know you and Casey have…you know…" He trailed off but Karai was completely confused by his statement.

"Ok does 'you know' mean something else to you than to me because I wasn't lying." She said and of course Shredder found them before Leo could say anything.

"Karai I was about to knock on your door last week after the whole Chimera thing, I heard Casey telling you to put your pants back on." He admitted as the two of them worked tirelessly to block The Shredder's many attacks.

Karai thought back to the night in question, then realized what he had heard.

"Leo I had something on my leg!" She explained to him as they did their best to fight against their enemy.

"And you couldn't have just rolled up your pant leg?" Leo asked as Karai ran towards him, though not to attack him. He knew what she was doing, for a moment the two seemed to have their sense of silent communication back again. Leo cupped his hands just in time for her to place her foot in them and he sprung her up in the air enough for her to land a kick to the side of Shredder's head.

While their enemy was disoriented the two ninja's ran higher up the mountain, to its peak. Once they were there they stopped to catch their breath and Karai bent over and began rolling up her pant leg. Leo's jaw hung slightly open at the sight of the puffy red lines running down it sister's shin, no doubt the path the electricity had taken through her body.

"It goes all over my body, I took my pants off because I needed to show Casey the part on my thighs. Look I didn't tell you guys but it was because I didn't want you worrying. Yeah Casey worries, but it's different. I know I should've told you, but they're just marks. They don't hurt and Casey gets that, I didn't want to worry you guys." She explained and she could tell that Leo understood. "Now that explains this past week, what about before that?" She asked and Leo sighed, ashamed to admit his selfish grudge.

"I spent three months in a coma. The last thing I remember before blacking out is fighting The Foot Clan in New York. Then I woke up and everything had changed. We're living in Northampton, our father is missing, I could barely move, my sister is dating one of my friends, and everyone is acting like it's just another day. I guess to you guys it was just another day but to me it felt like I fell asleep and woke up in another world. I don't know I guess I just thought that you of all people would understand that feeling but you seemed to have moved on more than anyone." He confessed and Karai wanted to say something, she really did, but that was when they heard Shredder's approaching footsteps.

"I've got a plan," she announced.

They hid separately, and they waited patiently. They watched as Shredder approached the edge of the cliff, then Leo fired first. He fired and arrow with a string tied to a tree on the other end. Karai fired the same kind of arrow only a second later and from the other side, effectively separating Shredder from the two of them. They jumped down and Leo fired an exploding arrow at Shredder's feet, Karai followed even more quickly than before. They kept doing this, kept forcing Shredder to back up less he wished to be destroyed.

"You are fools to fight me!" He bellowed at them

"I was." Leo agreed, "I was a fool to fight you alone." He said whilst firing another arrow.

"I was a fool to believe you as a child," Karai said as she followed Leo's example and kept firing explosive arrows.

"You will not win this war," The Shredder warned as Leo's explosive backed him onto the very edge of the cliff.

"Even if you're right, we don't have to win." The turtle said as his sister notched her final arrow.

"We just have to make sure you lose," she finished for him then released her arrow, sending Shredder over the mountainside.

They knew he was an illusion, brought on by their quest, but that didn't make the notion all the more real.

"If we lose…" Karai trailed off, Leo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know. But Sensei once told me that there are times when it doesn't matter what we have to sacrifice, or who." He confessed and she nodded before shaking his hand off and turning around.

"Well what do you think?" She asked and Leo smirked at her,

"I think we've been away from home long enough."

* * *

"Mama!" Justin exclaimed, when the Hamato siblings returned home that evening. Casey and April were out in the yard, apparently April's still trying to split a log with her hands, and they had Justin on a nearby blanket with some toys and coloring books.

Karai happily gathered her son in her arms as he raced over to her.

"Hey, I missed you." She giggled as the little boy locked his arms around her neck.

"So how was your spirit quest?" April asked, and Leo almost paid no notice to her when out of the corner of his eye he saw Casey putting his arm around Karai's waist, for once he could finally be happy for them.

"Good but we've come to a realization," Leo said, "It's time to take back New York City."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks so much for your** **input! I think for the most part i am going to continue making the chapters longer, i know this one was the usual length but in the show Vision Quest was basically the end of the farmhouse story lines and i really wanted to keep that with the story. Thanks again for the input, it means so much to me!**


	27. Angel of Darkness

"We just got word from the Kraang. A van just crashed its way through the wall. Then proceeded to fire hot garbage at the guards." Rahzar announced as he entered Shredder's throne room.

"The turtles are back," Shredder said; Tiger Claw was still down in the sewers searching for Splinter, so he would have to amend his plan. "Bring Angel to me," he requested and Rahzar bowed his head.

"As you wish master," he obliged before heading off to the lower levels of the church.

Roughly five minutes passed before The Shredder's most recent student was standing before him, and he couldn't help but smirk evilly underneath his mask. She had come very far in the past four months.

"You called for me Master?" She asked with a bow of her head.

"It is time to put our plan into action," he said and Angel raised her head with an evil smirk of her own.

"About time," she said wickedly.

* * *

"Well that could've gone better," Raph said as their little group filed out of their modified party wagon in the sewer.

"I have never been so glad that Donnie decided to strap Justin to the wall," Casey remarked as Karai lifted their son from his car seat, which Donnie had built more or less into the wall of the van.

"Ok I did not strap him to the wall," Donnie defended

"What he means is, you kept him safe." Karai clarified, settling the argument before it began.

With that settled they began heading towards the lair. Karai wore her sling just in case they ended up in a fight, though for now she simply held Justin on her hip.

"Yup, just how we left it." Raph said when the group found themselves standing at the entrance of the lair, the very destroyed lair.

"Oh man, you guys weren't kidding when you said this place was trashed!" Casey exclaimed as he began to venture inside, but before he could even set one foot in Raph pulled him back.

"Hold up. We've been gone for four months, the Kraang probably have this place wired by now." He said

"Raph, Donnie, and I will go check it out, everyone else stay put." Leo ordered and before he could be questioned the three of them were sneaking into the mess that used to be their home.

While the three of them were investigating the lair the other four, well five counting Justin, stood patiently by the entrance. Of course you would have to be blind to miss the scowls on the faces of Mikey and Karai.

"What's with you two?" April questioned, effectively forcing the scowls to be replaced by embarrassment in the cases of both teens.

"Nothing," They quickly said I unison.

Casey gave the two a funny look, knowing easily that they were both lying. But he shook it off, Mikey isn't his problem and he can question his girlfriend later.

"Any luck finding Splinter?" The hockey player questioned April; on the way here Donnie had suggested she try using her powers to locate their master.

"Not yet, but what if he's not himself when we find him?" April asked

"Then we'll help him." Karai answered, a certain finality to her voice that convinced April she was right. With this new confidence that they could help Splinter the red head began to concentrate harder, which proved difficult when the three turtles in the lair began fighting some sort of Kraang drone.

"Told ya they had the place wired!" Raph shouted as the three brothers ran from their home, and when they didn't stop the other's followed them down the tunnels of the sewer.

"So what do we-" Donnie began but he was cut off by April.

"Guys! I think I found Splinter!" She shouted

"Where?" Mikey questioned

"Uh, this way!" April exclaimed, she lead them through the tunnels, and they found their master; only he wasn't the master they left behind.

They found Splinter, his appearance disheveled and his demeanor feral as he ripped apart what appeared to be one of Baxter Stockman's mousers with his teeth. They watched in horror for a minute, Mikey even shrank back a little while Karai instinctively placed her free hand on the side of Justin's head to both block his vision and pull him closer. When the mouser was down Splinter glared at the teenagers, absolutely no recognition of them in his eyes whatsoever. They just stared back, afraid that one word or movement would confirm that he indeed had no recollection of his family. Finally Splinter made the first move, he snarled at them and lunged forward in attack. The turtles lunged back at him, though they were making an attempt to restrain their sensei.

"Splinter, Splinter it's us!" Leo shouted

"Splinter snap out of it!" Raph chorused, not even a split second later the humans had joined in the efforts to calm their master.

"Master Splinter please!" Casey begged

"It's us!" April said as she and Karai, who had placed Justin into the sling, struggled to hold back one of the rat's arms.

But despite the combined efforts of his students Splinter broke free, and as he did he not only sent them flying back, but also scratched a long gash into the side of Justin's head. The baby instantly cried out in pain, but what happened to Karai in that moment was almost equally scary.

The turtles could only compare their sister's actions to Leatherhead's when he goes into a rage; complete with her eyes flashing so violently they may as well have glazed over like the mutant alligator's. Being careful not to jostle her son too much but still using a scary amount of force and grace Karai spin kicked her father in the side of the head with enough power to send him flying to the side.

Once he landed her anger seemed to dissipate just as quickly as it came on, and she stared regretfully at the rat picking himself up off the ground as she brought her baby up closer against her chest. She wanted to say something, everyone did, but before anyone could Splinter was gone. Chasing a runaway mouser.

"Is he ok?" Casey demanded as Karai lifted the obviously still wailing Justin from her sling.

"He'll be fine," she said, willingly handing him over when Casey moved to take him.

"He's bleeding a lot," Casey remarked, Donnie looking over his shoulder at the injured boy.

"That looks pretty deep, he might need stitches." The purple-banded turtle said worriedly.

"Great, this'll be fun." Karai huffed, Casey and Donnie just glared at her.

"But what about Splinter? We can't just leave him!" Mikey exclaimed

"We won't. Donnie, Casey, and Karai, you take Justin back to the van and patch him up. The rest of us will go after Splinter." Leo commanded

"What? Not even all of us put together could restrain him and Justin only needs one of us, I'm coming with you." Karai argued and Leo looked as though he was about to argue but Casey stepped in.

"She's right. Donnie and I can handle Justin, you need all the help you can get." He said and Leo nodded, sure a part of him was worried Karai would be unfocused, but that fear will always be present now that she has a child. So no better time than now to test how well she can focus in the field.

The search party for Splinter followed his trail through the sewer; April tried locating him with her powers again but had no luck. In fact they just barely made it around a corner in time to see a hatch door close.

"You don't think Splinter went down there, do you?" April questioned as Leo opened the hatch.

"It's our only lead," he replied and one by one they all filed inside.

The hatch turned out to lead to another tunnel, though much darker than those of the normal sewer.

"Keep your eyes open, there could be guards anywhere." Leo warned, though his entire team already had their weapons drawn in case of an attack.

* * *

"Hamato Yoshi and the turtles, it's our lucky day." The Shredder said as he watched his men place Splinter's unconscious body in a terrarium like cell and close the glass, while Angel watched the security feed of the hidden camera's in the tunnel.

The young girl, who had just recently turned ten, frowned upon seeing no sign of her brother on the camera feed but decided it best not to comment on the subject.

"No guards master?" She instead asked, noticing the lack of security in the tunnel.

"There is no need. The turtles will follow that rat's trail right to us, and then we shall get back what we've lost." He answered her darkly.

"Well you will anyway, my brother isn't there." Angel said, folding her arms over her chest in mild disappointment.

Shredder then turned around to look at the feed from the camera, his interest sparked. Sure enough the turtles were getting closer, and with them they had Karai and the O'Neil girl. But Casey Jones and the child were missing. Frowning underneath his mask Shredder pondered how to amend his plan; the solution was obvious.

* * *

The turtles and two humans made their way quickly and cautiously down the long, dungeon like hallway. But when it let out they couldn't help but stare in awe. They were in the shadows of what was obviously Baxter Stockman's lab, but it had been greatly remodeled. The giant mutagen tank was standing tall in the center of the room like always, but now there was some kind of iron net below it and a command station above it. The walls were also lined with terrarium like prison cells, one of which contained Master Splinter.

"Great we found him, so what now?" Raph whispered

"I could maybe use my powers to get through to him, like when you guys were trapped in your dreams." April suggested and Leo nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," The leader agreed but before anyone could move a voice came from up above them, a voice none of them knew.

"Powers?" It asked in a mocking tone as Shredder's henchmen emerged from the shadows around the teens and a new enemy, a young girl, dropped from the ceiling rafters. "There is nothing that surprises me anymore," the girl smirked.

The others may not have recognized the girl, but April did. She had grown a little taller in the past few months, though she was still rather small for her age. She was still made of nothing but skin and bones, though her long hair had been cut to just past her ears and the natural dark brown color of it had been replaced by a purple dye. It was clear to see that her black clothes, silver armor, and facemask had belonged to Karai once, although maybe around the age of eight turning nine, not nine just turned ten.

"Angel?" The red head asked in shock

"Angel?" Karai repeated confused, recalling the name of Casey's sister but not believing that this child who Shredder had recruited could possibly be her.

"April, how did I not figure out you were involved with this?" Angel sarcastically questioned the red head, casually moving closer to the teens.

"Angel what are you doing? Why are you working for Shredder?" April demanded as the ten year old crossed her arms over her chest.

"Is Casey ok?" She questioned

"Angel-" April began again but Angel narrowed her eyes

"Is Casey ok?" She demanded again, her patients wearing thin.

"Yes" April answered, the younger girl's grimace only deepened before it turned back to a smirk.

"Then tell him about this," she said as she drew her Bo staff and the other members of The Foot Clan prepared for battle. "You know assuming you live that long."

The guys and Karai, they were taking on the entire Foot Clan. April wanted to fight, but her mission was Splinter. By some miracle she made it to his prison and after Raph dragged his fight over to her and shorted out the electronic lock she got inside and, after basically fighting Splinter one on one, she managed to knock him out by accident with her powers. She then took his head in her hands, and focused. She isn't exactly sure what she did, but she knows that after a few minutes Splinter opened his eyes calmly and she helped him sit up.

"April?" He asked

"It's me Splinter," April assured

"So, the rat has his mind back?" Shredder's voice demanded from the entrance of the cell. "Good. I want you to know it's my blade cutting through your flesh," he said darkly.

"Not today Saki," Splinter said and before Shredder knew it, his enemies had all retreated.

* * *

"And… done." Donnie finally announced, him and Casey both sighing in relief, their tense bodies visibly relaxing.

Casey groaned as he rotated his shoulder, it was far beyond stiff from his son having been asleep on it for nearly an hour.

"Man, the kid's out cold. How much sedative did you give him?" He asked Donnie, they tried giving stitches to the screeching baby without knocking him out but that proved to be quite impossible almost instantly.

"Enough to put him out for a couple hours," the turtle responded

"So I'm getting up at one in the morning aren't I?" Casey groaned while adjusting the child in his arms.

"Justin's a pretty good sleeper on his own so you might have until two," Donnie replied with a shrug and Casey chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Donnie questioned

"I don't know. This time last year Karai was our enemy, you and me were fighting over April, and now look at us." He said and Donnie pondered this for a moment before chuckling himself.

"You know no matter how complicated things are for us, looking back they always seem like they were a piece of cake and we were just too blind to see it." He reflected, Casey would've said something in response but at that moment the van doors burst open.

"Sensei!" Donnie exclaimed at the sight of his father entering the vehicle with the others.

"We have a slight problem," April said, her eyes on Casey much to his surprise.

"What problem?" The hockey player asked as Karai came and took Justin from him.

"Your sister" Raph said bluntly, Casey just raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He asked

"It appears Shredder's replaced me in The Foot Clan, with Angel." Karai clarified, Casey couldn't help the look of total shock he gave his girlfriend.

"Yeah and she asked if you were ok, but she did not seem happy when I told her that you were." April added.

Casey didn't say anything; he just stood there with his mouth hanging open. He felt like his entire world had just crashed, or stopped at least. His sister, his baby sister, wasn't mutated but instead signed on with The Foot?!

A hand on his shoulder, Karai's hand, snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Casey, we'll get her back." She said and he nodded, not that he believed her words one bit.

"Well we won't be doing much from the back of the van," Leo interrupted

"But where can we go? The lair's trashed and guarded by those Kraang orbs." Donnie pointed out.

"Homes are transitory, Donatello, what matters is that we are all together." Splinter reminded his son

"Oh I know the perfect place!" Mikey brightly exclaimed.

* * *

"I gotta say Mikey, this place isn't half bad." Raph complimented an hour later when the group found themselves cleaning the long abandoned Antonio's restaurant.

"It'll do for now, but I still can't wait to take down the Kraang and take back our home." Leo commented as helped Donnie pull a couch through the kitchen door.

"Hey we made it back to New York in one piece, one step at a time Leo." Karai said sarcastically and the leader simply smirked at her.

"You know there are so many jokes I could make at your expense right now but I'm going to be nice and bite my tongue." He said, causing Karai to smile in amusement as she continued wiping down the counter.

"If you want to be nice you could hurry up and get that couch through the door so I can put Justin down." She commented, Justin was still sleeping thanks to Donnie's sedative and with no place to put him that isn't covered in broken glass or loose nails she was still holding him within her sling.

Splinter couldn't help but smile at the sight of watching his children tease each other, for a moment he was almost able to forget that they were basically living in the aftermath of the apocalypse. But that did not last; because just a minute later the boys finally managed to cram the couch they had dragged from the back ally through the door and set it down. When they did and Karai set Justin down, Splinter caught a glimpse of the long trail of fresh stitches along the side of his grandson's face.

Karai was beyond relieved when Leo and Donnie finally set the couch down, though clearly not as relieved as Mikey considering he raced over and jumped for it the second the piece of furniture was on the floor.

"Mikey," Raph groaned

"What?" The youngest asked innocently, "We've been cleaning for hours, I need a break!" He whined

"Mikey we've been cleaning for less than one hour," Karai pointed out to him as she rotated her shoulder; she'd never admit it but carrying Justin around in that sling really made her shoulder, and after a really long time her back, hurt.

"Aw come on, I'll watch Justin!" The youngest pleaded

"Mikey he's asleep and we're all in here; he doesn't need you on the couch with him." Casey pointed out

"Ugh…" Mikey groaned as Raph held out a hand and pulled him up off the couch.

"Come on little brother, we're almost done." He said, with an amused smile Karai turned around to follow them but her father stopped her.

"Miwa, may I speak with you for a moment?" He asked before walking off into the restaurant's kitchen.

The others all stared confused at Karai, but if the look she gave them was any indication, she was as lost as they were.

"Yes?" She asked upon joining her father in the kitchen.

"I wanted to apologize for what I did… to your son." He choked out the words as if he could not believe they were true; but he knew they were.

Reflexively, Karai glanced back over her shoulder at the door back to the main room as if it were actually possible to see her sleeping child through the dirty glass of the door's window. But she couldn't, and she just turned back to Splinter.

"If anyone should apologize it's me. You weren't in your right mind, but I was, and I attacked you." She said regretfully, though a part of her wasn't truly sorry.

"No, I am glad you did what you did." Splinter said, he could see that Miwa knew she had done the right thing, and she wasn't sorry she did it; she was just sorry she had to do it. "There was once a man, he called himself The Rat King. He was able to brainwash me and pit me against the boys. Luckily Leonardo was able to remind me of who I really am, but that was luck." He explained to her, "It puts my mind at ease to know that should such a thing ever happen again, I have one child who will not hesitate to do what his necessary." He said, Karai only hoped he didn't notice her trying to swallow her fear.

"Father I…" she stammered, but she couldn't say anything more. She understood what he meant; he didn't expect her to ever be able to take him down without a problem, he just trusted her to be able to put her emotions aside should the need ever arise.

"Miwa," Splinter said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I hope as much as you that such a problem ever arises. But should it, I'd rather it be my life than the five of yours." He finished and Karai nodded just before a loud crash coming from the other room cut through the heavy silence of the kitchen.

"We should probably get back in there," Splinter said.

* * *

"Casey I know you're awake," Karai said quietly in the middle of the night. They were all sleeping on the floor of the restaurant, all except for Splinter who was on the couch and Justin who was on the seat of a booth, the gap between the table and the floor barricaded by boxes. Karai had lay down just in front of said table and no one had bothered to object when Casey lay down beside her. Though he had long since rolled over to face away from her.

Casey gave no indication that he had heard her, his body was completely still as if he really were asleep. But Karai knows him better than that and instead of letting the matter go she simply propped herself up on her elbow, not that it was enough to see his open eyes.

"Look we'll get your sister back," she promised and finally Casey responded to her.

He rolled onto his back and looked up into her golden eyes, all evidence of his usual confidents completely gone from his face.

"Angel's a smart kid." He began, "But she's more stubborn than I am sometimes," he continued and in an attempt to lighten the mood Karai let out a small giggle.

"Sounds like a nightmare," she joked and to her relief Casey smirked, but then it faded.

"The things is, she knows danger when she see's it and she knows how to avoid it. She would know not to join The Foot in the first place, so why did she?" He asked as Karai lay herself back down, still on her side to face him of course.

"I don't know how she could've gotten mixed in with The Foot to begin with, but somehow she did and look at this place; maybe she didn't have a choice." She suggested and with a sigh Casey put his arm around her to pull her closer.

"I'd try to go to sleep but you and I both know Justin's gonna get up any minute now," He sighed as his girlfriend snuggled into him, contently laying her head on his chest as she closed her eyes, pretending to be tired.

"Maybe if we're lucky he'll just go back to sleep without making a sound." She suggested and Casey scoffed.

"In your dreams," he chuckled but Karai didn't respond. Instead she simply remained still with her eyes closed, and although Casey knew she was still wide-awake he couldn't bring himself to keep talking and keep her awake.

Once she actually fell asleep though, that was a different story. Glancing up at the clock when Justin woke up Casey noticed that it was just past two a.m.

 _Donnie was right,_ the hockey player mused to himself as he set his son down back in his makeshift crib. Once Justin was settled Casey knew he should just return to the floor and go to sleep, but he couldn't.

* * *

"I give you credit," A familiar voice mocked from behind the hockey player twenty minutes later when he found himself standing on the roof of a building not too far from Foot HQ.

He turned around slowly, and there she was. She was this petite, just barely ten-year-old, shadow leaning up against an AC unit. Her arms were folded over her chest and in her left hand she gripped a Bo Staff. Her hair had been cut and died, and Casey hated to say it but if he didn't know it was her he never would've guessed.

"I mean do you have any idea how many Kraang could've gotten you?" She questioned, same mocking tone.

"Angel what are you doing? You can't seriously think that Shredder's the good guy!" Casey exclaimed as his little sister walked ever closer to him.

"Oh but you see I can, and I do." She said darkly

"Angel he's lying to you!" Casey shouted

"About what?" His sister asked, not that she gave him the chance to answer. "About Karai not being his biological daughter? About him having known about the Kraang's plans for the city? About how it was him who killed Tang Shen? Which of those is a lie?" She questioned, almost smirking with pleasure when Casey couldn't bring himself to do anything more than just stare at her like a deer in the headlights.

He couldn't help it, in fact he didn't even notice he was staring, he was too caught up in the fact that Shredder ISN'T lying to his sister and yet she's still working for him. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, but he didn't have to.

"You see Casey, I know the truth. And the truth is that blood doesn't count for anything." Angel said and if Casey didn't feel like his whole world was shattered before he sure did now. "Why do you look so surprised? You made that pretty clear when you abandoned me." She continued to growl at him.

"What?" Casey asked, "Angel I didn't abandon you, I came back for you!" He exclaimed

"Yeah, a little too late." She said coldly before turning away and crossing to the edge of the building, but then she stopped. "You made your choice when you disappeared Casey, now I've made mine." She said over her shoulder, and with that she was gone.


	28. Agenda's

As if Casey didn't hate his life enough, his return to the temporary lair was met with a mix of angry and concerned stares.

"Where have you been? We woke up and you were gone!" April exclaimed when he came walking through the door from the kitchen.

"Dada!" Justin exclaimed, seemingly the only person happy to see his father.

"Yeah dude, we thought the Kraang took you." Mikey said as Casey bent over and lifted up his son.

"No, I went to talk some sense into my sister, and it didn't work." He admitted and while almost everyone stared at him in surprise, Karai tipped back her head and growled in frustration.

"Are you nuts?!" She demanded as she walked closer to her boyfriend. "What if she brought someone with her?" She interrogated

"Hey she didn't!" Casey exclaimed, his anger suddenly matching Karai's. "And she wouldn't! She's my sister!" He continued

"Last night you told me your sister would never join The Foot Clan in the first place, but she did." Karai spat back at him, Casey had no response.

He hated, he really, really hated to admit it, but Karai's right. The Angel he knew would never lead her own brother into a trap; but this isn't the Angel he knows. So with an angry glare Casey handed Justin over to Karai and disappeared into the kitchen; a minute later Leo went in after him.

* * *

"What are you doing?" The leader asked when he found his friend pacing back and forth throughout the cramped room.

"There's nothing in here I can punch that isn't made of steel or concrete, so I'm walking it off." Casey answered; Leo just frowned before he put a hand on his friend's shoulder, effectively halting him.

"I know what you're going through Casey-" he began but Casey cut him off by yanking away from his grip.

"No you don't!" He snapped

"Yes I do," Leo persisted calmly, "Are you forgetting that my sister was in The Foot too? That she was raised there?" He questioned and finally Casey's hard gaze faltered.

"Yeah but she didn't choose to join The Foot, Angel did." He reminded Leo and for a minute the turtle appeared to wish that weren't true, in fact he probably did.

"True," Leo admitted, "But clearly Angel's had to make some tough choices in these past few months. Look all I know is from the moment I first met Karai I knew there was good in her, if you still believe that there's good in your sister then it's not too late. We'll get her back Casey, but don't make the same mistakes I did and trust her blindly." He warned and much to his surprise Casey actually chuckled.

"Yeah, how many times did Karai nearly kill you?" He asked, resulting in a frown from Leo.

"Just don't run off in the middle of the night again," he instructed.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere across the city, a new problem was arising.

"We've got to get out of this city Steranko! All we've got left to eat is moldy ketchup and dead cockroaches!" Anton Zeck exclaimed in panic just as his 'partner' snatched a dead bug from his hands and proceeded to swallow it.

"Het! My secret hideout, my cockroaches! You should count yourself lucky I let you hide here after what you did to me!" The terrifying Russian shouted at him.

"You're not still mad about that are you?" Aton questioned, the fear evident in his voice as Steranko fixed his heavy gaze on him.

"You shoot me in the eyeball!" The much larger man bellowed,

"And I'm sorry! Look can we not talk about this right now?" Aton begged, "We need to find a way out of this city!" He continued, although they really did need to find a way out of the city he'd be lying if he said that was his only motivation in this conversation; a part of him was trying to delay Steranko fro 'crushing him like blueberry.'

"You are right comrade Zeck," Steranko said as he pulled a picture from his coat pocket. "But I believe I have found the solution to out problem," he said, allowing his partner to take the photograph from him.

"Steranko what does some chick have to do with us getting the hell out of here?" Zeck demanded to know, the girl he was looking at was obviously younger than himself, so what help could she be?

"Her name is Karai. She is the… adopted daughter of The Shredder, and he is looking for her." Steranko explained

"So you're suggesting we hunt down the runaway daughter of The Shredder in exchange for passage out of the city?" Anton demanded and Steranko grinned evilly.

"Now you are catching on," he said manically.

"Just one problem Steranko, runaways don't like to be taken back and this one is a deadly ninja! She'll chop us up and burry the remains!" The younger man argued, unlike Steranko he willingly left his parents; and he would've killed anyone who ever tried to take him back.

"She will come without a fight Zeck, don't you worry. You see the girl has a weakness, she is a mother." The Russian said darkly, Zeck's evil grin grew to match that of his partner's.

* * *

"Ugh! I'm so bored without TV!" Mikey whined as he threw himself face down on the couch.

"Leo, Raph, and Casey said they would try and get your TV while they're sneaking in and grabbing supplies from the lair." Karai reminded as she changed Justin's diaper. "In the meantime why don't you make yourself useful and put this in the dumpster for me?" She suggested, holding up the dirty diaper.

"Ew yuck! No way am I touching that!" Mikey declared, repulsed by the idea of touching the diaper.

"Michelangelo help your sister," Splinter ordered. Mikey, of course, groaned in response.

"Aw come on Sensei! I avoided diaper duty for four months at the farmhouse!" He whined

"Then I believe it is far past your turn," Splinter insisted and with a groan Mikey caved in and took the dirty diaper from his overly smug sister, muttering under his breath the whole time.

"Oh calm down, it's not like I asked you to change him." She taunted as he took the diaper from her, and proceeded to hold it as far away from his body as possible.

Karai shook her head in amusement as he left the room, and only continued when Justin began fussing as if reminding her that she still needed to zip up his pajamas.

"I know, I know, you're board too." She chuckled as she zipped his pajamas and picked him up. However he was still cranky, so Karai just smiled and held him up above her head. "You're board too, huh? You're board too?" She asked in her baby voice as she brought Justin back down to her, then back above her head, then back down.

It didn't take long for this to make Justin laugh and soon Karai was laughing along with him, that his until she remembered her father was watching her. Her face turned beat red with embarrassment as she brought Justin down for a final time, completely at a loss for an excuse.

But Splinter just chuckled, and said nothing to his daughter as he walked past her and entered the kitchen. He didn't see it of course, but Karai smiled, thankful that he didn't say anything.

* * *

Karai walked into the kitchen with Justin two minutes later when she heard Mikey cheering about a TV.

"We got something for you to Sensei," Leo said as she entered, not that she had to ask what they had grabbed for him.

"You are a good son Leonardo," Splinter said, he hadn't asked the boy's bring him back anything, but they knew what he wanted should time permit.

"And you…" Casey trailed of as he approached Karai and dug his hand through his pocket.

"Told you not to waste time getting me anything," Karai finished for him; she didn't have anything at the lair worth going back for.

"I didn't waste time," Casey defended as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Yes he did, we had to make a slight detour to the surface with ten Kraang chasing us and he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to pick up a piece of trash." Raph butted in.

"It is not trash!" Casey defend himself

"You found it lying on the ground," Raph argued but Casey just ignored him as he finally unclenched his fist to reveal he was holding a silver, dirty but silver, chain with a heart shaped pendant on it.

"You told me not to get you anything from the lair, you never said anything about the sidewalk." He smirked as he took notice of Justin leaning over Karai's arm in an attempt to get to him, so he quickly traded Karai the necklace for Justin. Secretly he wanted to put the necklace on her himself but after dating her for four months he knows that such a move would be too fast for her. It's not that she wouldn't like it; it's just that she's not used to stuff like that and wouldn't know what to do with herself. Although he was proud of himself from getting such a bright smile out of his girlfriend.

"Uh did anyone tell Sensei?" Leo asked, looking back and forth between the couple he had taken so long to accept and his father, who surprisingly chuckled when everyone else in the room (minus Justin of course) suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable.

"No, Sensei figured it out for himself." Splinter said and went to leave the room, though he stopped when he reached Casey and Karai. "I trust the boys have already given you your fair share of warnings Casey?" He asked and eyeing Raph and Leo fearfully he nodded in response.

"Yes sir," He choked out and Splinter chuckled again when he followed Casey's gaze to his two eldest sons, he didn't even want to know what torture those two had either threatened to or already put the poor boy through.

"Good," he said, placing a hand on Casey's shoulder as he walked by him.

* * *

"Ugh," Angel groaned as she returned to her quarters after a particularly brutal training session with Xever.

As she began discarding her armor she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and momentarily paused her actions. She let the arm plate she had been removing fall to the floor with a loud clatter as she slowly walked closer to the mirror, and for the first time in months really looked at herself.

 _"Angel what are you doing?"_ Casey's voice rang in her head, and she let out a sigh as she took in her reflection.

She had changed so much in the past four months; she had grown up so much. She may still be a child physically, but even that won't last too much longer. Her mind though, her mind had no trace of the scared little girl she was just a few short months ago.

"He didn't come back for me," she grumbled to herself, still ignorant of her brother's return to their apartment during the invasion. "He left," she seethed through gritted teeth, she knew she was sending herself into a rage, but she didn't care.

In a sudden burst of fury she picked up her hairbrush and whipped around to chuck it at the wall, only angering herself more when the impact created a long crack in the plastic of the brush.

"He says he came back for me, like I matter to him." She huffed and for a moment she just stood there as the tears started to form in her eyes, then she collapsed to the floor sobbing.

* * *

"Two? Seriously?" Casey asked in surprise, now that he and Karai had decided that they would go ahead and train Justin they were trying to figure out at what age they should actually start that; therefor Casey asked when Shredder started training her.

"It's not like he started as soon as I could walk," Karai defended; she knew her childhood had a lot of problems but up until now she had never thought anything was wrong with Shredder starting training so young.

"Might as well have," Casey muttered, the two were currently leaning on opposite sides of the counter while Donnie worked in his makeshift lab in the kitchen and the others tried to get a signal on the TV. Karai was behind the counter, looking around for something Donnie said he needed.

"Well what did you have in mind?" Karai questioned and Casey shrugged

"I don't know, five?" He suggested

"Five? No way, that's too old." Karai argued and Casey snorted

"Five is not too old, five is he's not a baby anymore." He said firmly

"Casey there is no way he's riding around in my sling until he's five-" she began

"Even when he's five he's not jumping across rooftops by himself!" The hockey player exclaimed and Karai had to admit; he has a point. No matter what age they start training Justin at he won't be ready to go out until he's a lot older.

"Well then we're going to have to find something else to do with him and we're going to have to do it soon, because he's already getting too big for that sling." She pointed out, but Casey's face was lost in thought. "Casey?" Karai prompted, pulling her boyfriend out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry it's just, we're talking about when Justin's however old but… when even is his birthday?" He asked and Karai blinked, what kind of parents don't even know their own son's birthday? But then she smiled, because they do know it.

"February 8th 2013," she replied smugly.

"Wait how do you know that?" Casey asked of her, nearly springing from his seat at the news that they may actually know Justin's birthday.

"The night Justin was created I handed a Kraangdroid over to Shredder, and he agreed to investigate them. It was the first time Shredder ever acted on one of my idea's so, stupid as it sounds, I looked at the calendar that night when I went to bed and said something to myself about how it was a good day." She explained before laughing to herself, "I don't know how I remember that," she finished as she pulled a small jar out from under the counter "yes" she said under her breath, clearly she had found what she was looking for. Casey just smiled at her.

"Maybe the universe knew one of us would need to," he said and Karai just rolled her eyes.

"Ok so back to the problem at hand," She said, leaning over the counter and closer to Casey. "So two's too young and five's too old; what you think three?" She asked and Casey considered it,

"It's not like we're going to start on his birthday, so what ya say we aim for three and a half and if Justin seems like he's ready then that'll be that?" He asked and Karai accepted the plan.

"Fair enough," she agreed. "Now if you'll excuse me Donnie asked me to find this for him," she said as she made her way for the kitchen.

* * *

Donnie was sitting on a stool at a table he had already over cluttered with chemicals and notes, anything that would help him make retro mutagen.

"Here's your hot sauce," Karai snapped him back to reality, her voice indicating how understandably confused she was by her little brother's odd request as she set it down beside him.

"Thanks, hopefully this will help substitute the heat chemical I usually use in the retro mutagen." He said, he had most of the chemicals he needed but he was still missing one or two.

"Let's hope," Karai muttered, she was still trying to get the hang of being encouraging, but for now that would have to do. She turned to go, but Donnie stopped her.

"You know you and Casey really make a good couple," he blurted out. Karai turned back to him, skepticism written all over her face.

"Are you saying that because you're trying to make sure he's over April or is there a joke at the end of it?" She questioned the genius turtle.

"Karai I'm serious. Look I know we give you two a hard time but all jokes aside he really brings out the best in you." Donnie continued and Karai so lost in thought at this that she almost didn't notice Donnie was still talking. "When we first met you were this angry, stone cold, vengeance seeker. Then you came home and it was almost worst." He said as Karai took a seat on the only uncluttered corner of the table.

"I never went-" she began but Donnie just stared her down.

"Karai, I know Leo stopped you the first night." He said and abruptly she shut her mouth. "But it's not just that. Those whole two weeks before we found Justin you were so angry at Shredder and then after Justin came around and after your imprisonment, you were happy but you were also…" He trailed off as he tried to think of the right words for his sister's behavior that week.

"Fed up with being trapped in the lair?" She suggested and Donnie nodded, though it was clear that's not exactly what he was trying to say.

"You were worried," he settled on, "but my point is, ever since I've known you I've known you to be angry. I like what Casey brings out in you, like this morning when he gave you that necklace and you couldn't stop smiling." He explained, eyeing the piece of jewelry around her neck. Karai couldn't help but blush.

"You saw that?" She asked in embarrassment

"Of course I did." Donnie said; his work completely abandoned by now. "When Justin first showed up I wasn't really sure what it was going to do to you. You were still trying to come to terms with your own childhood and then, all of a sudden; you became a teen mom who barely knew her baby's father. And it's no secret that Casey's never been my favorite person-"

"Because of the April thing," Karai interrupted

"That aside," Donnie stressed, "I like seeing this happy side of you that he brings out. You smile and you laugh, it's nice to not see you always so… guarded." He finished and again Karai couldn't fight the blush creeping onto her face.

"Thanks," she said as she stood up and left her little brother to his work, blissfully unaware of the danger she was in.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, ok so just to clear up any confusion on Justin's age; he is only one year old but he was born/created on February 8th 2013. This is the date The Alien Agenda premiered. Chapter 1 of this story takes place two weeks after Vengeance is Mine, which aired on June 29th 2014. Since the show rarely ever makes a point of dates i've just been going with the air dates are the actual dates in the show. Therefor this chapter takes place in December of 2014, which means Justin would still be one. Just to clear that up before anyone starts saying he should be older!**


	29. Bring 'em Home

Everyone living in the farmhouse had been one thing; everyone living in basically one room was proving to be another. Everyone was bound to get on everyone else's nerves eventually and so, to save everyone's sanity, Splinter permitted the kids to wander the sewer below the restaurant if they needed to clear their heads. So long as they didn't go far and weren't gone long of course. So now it was Karai's turn, she wasn't mad at anybody in particular, it was just one too many days in a one room home with so many people was driving her crazy. So she was down here alone, not even walking but just sitting on the edge of a walkway and taking a break from all the commotion. She was lost in her own world; completely disconnected from reality. So she didn't even hear her attacker, didn't even know what happened, until her whole world became a blur and she saw a familiar and annoying man standing over her.

"Woo-we! Nice shot Steranko!" His voice exclaimed before he was quickly hushed. Karai didn't hear anything else, or see her attempted rescuer, because everything in her world quickly turned to black.

* * *

Donnie was working in the kitchen, where the hole in the floor they traveled in and out of was located, when he heard something down in the sewer. He knew Karai was down there, and so he didn't think anything of it at first. But then he heard a voice, a very loud and all too familiar voice.

"Woo-we! Nice shot Steranko!" It cheered before it was promptly shushed.

Without giving it a second thought Donnie bolted from his chair and grabbed his staff, he then slid down the ladder leading from the hole to the sewer.

When he got there he saw exactly what he had feared, his sister was unconsciously slung over the shoulder of Steranko with Anton Zeck walking along side him.

"Hey! Let her go!" The turtle shouted, his enemies turning around to see him pointing his staff in their direction.

"Sorry green but she is our ticket out of here, and no way are we giving that up!" Zeck shouted while Steranko smiled menacingly,

"And to think, we didn't even have to threaten her baby to get her." He mocked and Donnie's blood boiled; he knew what Steranko really meant by that and NOBODY calls his sister weak.

Without thinking, which at least in Donnie's case is almost never good, he charged his enemies but was quickly taken down by Zeck, who finished the fight by injecting a syringe full of tranquilizer into the turtle's neck.

"I wonder what Shredder gives us for his daughter and a turtle!?" Zeck exclaimed and that was the last thing Donnie heard.

* * *

"Guys, Donnie's gone." April said urgently as she returned to the main room. She had gone into the kitchen to check on Donnie, only to find that he wasn't there.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Raph questioned,

"I mean he's not in the kitchen," April said as she raced back into the back room.

The others followed her, Casey of course holding Justin and not letting him down in order to keep him away from Donnie's chemicals.

"Karai's been down in the sewer for awhile, maybe he went to check on her." The hockey player suggested, eyeing the hole in the floor. He walked closer to it, and the closer he got the deeper the nervous pit in his stomach became. "Karai? Karai you still down there?" He called but he received no answer, "Donnie? Come on guys this isn't funny!" He continued but again no one responded to his words. Turning around Casey found Raph standing closest to him, "here, take Justin." He said, handing his son over to his best friend.

Justin began to whimper when he was handed off, and Casey knew it was because he was afraid.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure mom's fine." The boy assured his son, not that he believed his own words.

Cautiously, Casey stepped onto the ladder and lowered himself down into the sewer below. He stood there, completely alone, looking around the empty tunnel for any sign of his girlfriend and her brother.

"Over there," Leo's voice snapped Casey back to reality; he turned to see his friends had followed him down here.

"Don't worry, Justin's with Splinter." Raph said before Casey could ask. Leo was kneeling over a spot on the ground, examining something in his hand.

"Whoa dude, is there like some kind of evil doctor down here?" Mikey asked; Leo was holding an empty syringe.

"There's one over here too," Raph announced, standing roughly ten feet from the others.

"They got them both," Leo said surprised, but who could blame him?

"Who? Who got them?" Mikey questioned, Casey turned to answer his question and the youngest turtle could only pray that he will one day forget the look of pure fury on the human's face.

"Who do you think?"

* * *

"Ugh…" Karai awoke with a groan, her head pounded and it was spinning. She had never been much of a drinker; she wasn't a big fan of willingly impairing her focus when she needs to constantly be on high alert for an attacker. But the sensation she was experiencing right now could not have been far off from a hangover.

Coming to her senses a little more the kunoichi realized that she was chained to the floor of a mostly empty and obviously abandoned warehouse. She was bound by her wrists, there was some kind of collar around her neck, and her little brother was lying in a heap beside her.

"Donnie!" She gasped as she nudged her head against his bicep.

He groaned in response to her before opening his eyes, and then squeezing them shut again in response to the light. Eventually his eyes adjusted and he got to his knees.

"Karai? Where, where are we?" He asked but before she could answer him the door on the other side of the large room swung open.

"Oh good, we were getting worried you'd sleep till Shredder got here. Then he'd think you were dead, then he'd kill us; and really that's no fun for anybody." Anton Zeck said as he and Ivan Steranko walked into the warehouse.

"First a little girl and now you clowns? Shredder's really getting desperate for errand boy's isn't he?" Karai taunted, prompting Zeck to get in her face.

"Who are you calling a clown!? Ya slut!" He shouted at her

"Hey leave her alone!" Donnie shouted at the man

"It's ok Donnie," Karai said, her deadly calm voice and mischievous smile warning him that whatever came out of her mouth next had a fifty percent chance of making their situation worse. "He's just jealous because he hasn't even had his first kiss yet," she mocked.

"What?! What are you talking about missy?!" Zeck demanded and Donnie had to admit, he could see why Karai enjoys messing with peoples heads; it is funny to watch.

"I will have you know that-"

"Enough comrade Zeck," Steranko butted in, clearly losing his patients. "They will get what is coming to them." He continued, when his partner finally backed off the Russian stared evilly at his captives.

"Your stay here will be brief, by nightfall you will both be guests of The Shredder. Until then mind the collar's around your necks, they are electric and I have the remote." He gloated,

"And how will you decided when to shock us?" Karai demanded and Steranko grinned as he and Zeck began to head for the door.

"Security cameras," He answered and with that they were gone.

* * *

"Are we even sure The Foot Clan took them?" Leo questioned as what was left of his team leapt across the rooftops of New York.

"Who else would take Karai?" Casey demanded for a second time that day.

"But why would they take Donnie?" The leader argued,

"He probably heard them taking Karai and tried to stop them," Raph theorized.

Leo accepted this answer and continued running along with the others until they could see Shredder's hideout, and the van speeding down the street.

"We're too late!" April exclaimed but Leo shook his head

"Not yet, come on!" He ordered and with that they turned around and followed the van all the way to the docks.

* * *

"When we get out of here I am SO teaching that guy a lesson!" Donnie fumed, clearly still upset about Zeck's outburst earlier.

"Would you let that go?" Karai questioned, frustrated both with their situation and the fact that Donnie clearly won't move past their 'talk' with their captors.

"No I won't, how can you?" He asked

"Because I don't care. He's trying to degrade me for letting myself get pregnant but it doesn't work since I never was pregnant. All he's doing is making himself look like an idiot." She explained, "Now can we please focus on getting out of here?" She questioned, pulling on her chains until she found herself shrieking in pain as an electric shock encircled her neck for an unbearably long twenty seconds. "Great," She growled when it stopped, "Just what I need, more electrical scars." She huffed.

"I don't think it's going to scar," Donnie said as he looked around until spotting one of the security cameras Steranko had mentioned. "Ok it looks like the security cameras are standard issue, which means they can see us but they can't hear us." He concluded.

"Good," Karai agreed, she didn't want with Steranko or Zeck to have heard her conversation with Donnie and know that she was never pregnant with Justin, it's too much fun to watch their insults take no effect.

"Steranko said they were handing us over to Shredder right?" Donnie questioned

"Unfortunately," Karai huffed but Donnie's face, on the other hand, lit up like a Christmas tree.

"That means they're going to have to move us, which means at some point they're going to have to unhook our chains from the floor. That's our best chance for escape." He explained

"And if they drug us again? Or shock us?" Karai brought up, knowing both those possibilities were very, very likely.

"I'm thinking," Donnie said, his mind clearly racing at over a hundred miles per hour.

* * *

"Why do bad guys always have to meet at the docks?" Mikey inquired when the van finally parked somewhere, and that somewhere was the shipping yard.

"So they can dump any dead bodies in the harbor," Casey said matter-of-factly, something that disturbed both the oldest and youngest turtles ever so slightly.

"Don't worry, Karai and Donnie ain't getting dumped in the harbor. Shredder on the other hand…" Raph trailed off.

"Let's just focus on getting Donnie and Karai out of here." Leo ordered, not that he's entirely against throwing Shredder's non-living body in the harbor.

* * *

"That's a van door, they're outside." Karai announced when she was sure their captors were no longer watching the security cameras.

"Well then not to rush you, but hurry up!" Donnie snapped

"I'm working on it," Karai snapped back, Steranko and Zeck may have been smart enough to confiscate Donnie's Bo but they clearly hadn't bothered searching for her Tanto. So she had spent just about their entire time in captivity with her sword gripped tightly behind her back, carefully picking at the lock on her cuffs.

Finally, she heard a click. "Got it," she exclaimed before wasting no time in cutting off Donnie's cuffs and collar, and she was about to take care of her own collar when suddenly it zapped her.

It was the surprise more than the pain that caused her to hit her knees screaming, but she hit her knees nonetheless.

"Karai!" Donnie exclaimed as he bent over her, but just as he did the shock stopped.

"Not another move turtle, or the next one will do more permanent damage." Steranko threatened.

Donnie wanted to move, to do something, but watching Karai get to her feet with shaking legs and gasping for breath he knew that his best option was to stay put.

"Good," Steranko praised before he and Zeck crossed over to the teens and grabbed them from behind by their wrists, Donnie seethed with rage when Zeck headed for Karai.

* * *

"There they are!" Casey exclaimed when Shredder's friends came walking out of the warehouse they had just entered, now pushing Donnie and Karai in front of them.

He got up, he didn't have a plan but he knew one thing, no way in hell was he about to lose Karai again.

But Raph grabbed him and pulled him back down, "Easy Jones. There's too many of them, we'll get her but be patient." Normally Casey wouldn't have listened, but considering Raph is normally the last one to lecture anybody on patients he figured he better do as he was told.

"Karai," Shredder growled as his former daughter and her brother were brought before him.

"Shredder," The girl spat back at him

"So do we have deal Shredder?" Steranko inquired,

"The turtle will earn you both passage out of the city, release my daughter to me and I may consider allowing you to walk out of here alive." Shredder responded

"Let them go!" Leo's voice came shouting as he jumped down between the two parties.

"And we'll consider letting YOU walk away alive!" Casey shouted at Shredder as he and the others came out of hiding.

"Now you've done it turtles," Steranko said, an evil smile taking over his face as he raised one arm in order to show the remote in his hand.

But this action took one hand off of Donnie, and that was all the turtle needed.

"Stop hurting my sister!" He shouted as he broke free of Steranko's grip and grabbed the remote from him.

Knowing that the remote was now in the hands of Donnie, Karai took her cue to free herself. Before Zeck even knew what happened she had flipped him over her back and was standing over him as she carefully unhinged her collar.

"Don't worry, I'd never break your toy." She smirked as she quickly bent down and secured it around his neck.

"What? Oh no you don-ahhhhh!" He shouted as the collar shocked him whilst his former captive got away.

It was a three-way fight: The Foot Clan vs. The Hamato Clan vs. Ivan Steranko and Anton Zeck, although Zeck was pretty much out of the fight already. Leo and Raph were fighting Shredder, while Rahzar took on Steranko, Fishface handled Donnie, and Tiger Claw chased after Mikey.

"I'm getting Karai out of here!" Casey shouted to Leo, Karai looked like she wanted to argue with him but her boyfriend cut her off before she could even open her mouth. "They're after you. The sooner you get out of here the sooner this fight ends," he told her.

"Just hurry!" Raph's voice came shouting back. Casey then grabbed Karai by the wrist and the two of them took off across the tops of the shipping crates, but they were intercepted.

"Hm, a little girl against two teenagers. This'll be fun." Angel said as she drew her Bo Staff.

"I'm not gonna fight you Angel!" Casey shouted

"Aw come on big brother, why do you have to ruin my fun?" The girl questioned, pretending to be hurt.

"Angel listen to me-" Karai began but the young girl only sent a death glare at her.

"No you listen to me!" She shouted, "My mom walked out on me, things were great for three years until my brother started leaving every night." She began

"Hey how do you know about that?" Casey questioned, he had been careful to always sneak out after his sister went to bed.

"Because Casey for the past three years Dad's been gone!" His sister shouted at him, "Do you seriously think I didn't see that?" She questioned when she saw her brother about to protest. "Do you seriously think I didn't notice that it's been you at my dance recitals? My school concerts? That dad gives you money to take me to the store and get groceries? Do you really think I never paid attention to you tucking me in at night? Casey I knew you were leaving because every time I have a nightmare you're there and then this past year… you weren't." She admitted, tears were forming in her eyes and Casey just looked heartbroken. "When you brought Justin home I thought maybe that meant you were going to be there every night; but you just disappeared for good!" She cried, the tears now streaking down her face.

"Angel," Casey said softly as he took a step towards her, but she jerked away.

"NO! Don't touch me! You left me! I watched dad mutate, that rat you're protecting attacked me! Shredder took me in and made sure I could take care of myself. He was there when everyone else abandoned me, just like he was for you!" She directed her final comment at Karai.

"You've sold your soul Angel," Karai said with a frown but Angel responded by charging the two teens.

Ordinarily the two could've made quick work of the young girl, but Fishface came to her aid and while Karai handled him Casey took on his sister.

"Angel I'm sorry!" He pleaded with her, pinning her underneath her own staff.

"It's too late for that," Angel growled in response before she kicked him off of her and the two continued fighting, which means Angel kept attacking while Casey kept blocking.

"Angel you can leave all this and come home with us! Come on just close your eyes and let me carry you, Shredder will think we knocked you out and took you prisoner." The boy pleaded but his sister kept on attacking.

"You're not my home anymore!" Angel sneered just before she nailed a punch to Casey's eye.

The force of the punch knocked him down, and the sheer shock of it kept him there. His little sister loomed over him, though it's probably safe to say that she isn't his little sister anymore. She held her staff above his head; no doubt she was about to knock him out, when suddenly something tackled her.

"Move Jones!" It was Raph, and once Casey finally brought himself back to reality he got up and bolted.

"Karai let's go!" Raph shouted at his sister who was still wrestling with Fishface.

The mutant fish noticed everyone retreating, and allowed Karai to free herself from his grip. She took off running, but quickly stopped and looked back, knowing she hadn't freed herself.

"Now you owe me two," Xever said to her and with that they both disappeared in opposite directions.

* * *

Despite the victory, the scene back at Antonio's was far from victorious. When the seven teenagers came in through the front door Splinter was standing by the counter drinking tea while Justin was asleep in his makeshift crib.

"He fell asleep a half hour ago," the ninjistu master reported and with a smile Karai gently ran her hand over her baby's forehead as the group dispersed into doing their own things.

"Leo, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked; the leader perked up upon hearing his name, though he was very confused by the request.

Nonetheless he followed Karai into the kitchen, leaving the others to exchange glances that said they had no idea what was going on either.

* * *

"So what's up?' Leo asked, unconsciously finding himself leaning against a counter while Karai leaned against Donnie's table.

Despite how well he knows her, her expression was one that he could not read. She had crossed her arms over her chest, and frowned as she stared at her feet. She didn't look guilty, didn't look regretful, she didn't even look broken. She just looked… sorry.

"I'm done Leo," She announced, despite leaning against the counter Leo practically lost his balance upon hearing that. "Sorry," She cringed, she didn't know how exactly she expected her brother to take the news but she certainly hadn't thought he might fall over.

"No, no that was me. Sorry just, uh, what you mean by done?" The leader asked seriously as he recovered from his extreme lack of grace.

Karai gave a sigh, she really wanted to hate doing this, but she would never forgive herself if she didn't. "You were right when you said all I'd be thinking about on the Spirit Quest was Justin-" she began but Leo cut her off.

"I was mad at you," he quickly interrupted.

"You were still right," she insisted. "That whole trip, even when you and I were fighting Shredder, he was constantly on my mind. The whole car trip here I kept looking over at him to make sure that car seat of Donnie's didn't come unhinged, and I trust Donnie's inventions more than anything. When we woke up to find Casey missing the other day I was… terrified that something had happened to him and I was scared to death that Justin would have to go through his life with me telling him his father disappeared one night. Then today all I could think about was… what if I died? What if Donnie and I didn't get out of there alive? What would happen to Justin?" She asked, the sheer worry evident in her voice.

"Karai-" Leo didn't even know what he intended to say, but it didn't matter, because he didn't get to say it.

"When I was considering giving Justin up you asked me what I thought my life was going to look like in ten years, and to be honest I still have no idea. But I do know that I want to make it that far, and I have to do it this way." She explained, "I'm done… with patrols and fighting and all of it. I've had my run, now I have to focus on something else." She finished and Leo sighed.

"I understand, but are you this is what you want?" He asked and for the first time since they started this little meeting Karai smiled as she glanced over to the door.

"You know I love fighting, so you're not going to believe me, but it is." She answered him and Leo smiled back, because he did believe her.


	30. Choices

"Do me a favor and stop disappearing in the middle of the night," Karai said with a smirk. She hadn't been asleep when Casey got up and left, so naturally she followed him up to the roof of Antonio's where she found him sitting on the very edge.

He turned at the sound of her voice, and the sight she saw wiped the playful smile right off her face.

"Hey, are you crying?" She asked as she approached him.

Casey of course shook his head as he wiped his eyes but he didn't say anything, mostly because he was afraid his voice would crack with the tears and betray him.

"Casey come on, what's wrong?" Karai asked as she took a seat next to him, but he still shook his head.

"Nothing," He sniffled but Karai wouldn't buy it.

"Casey if I can talk to you then you should be able to talk to me," she insisted, Casey has seen her break on more than one occasion. If he truly doesn't want to talk that's fine but if it's because he wants to pretend everything's ok when it's not then that's another story.

"I failed Angel," he finally muttered. "My dad was right, and so was Angel. I'm the one who's been raising her for the past three years… and I failed." He murmured in sadness.

"Casey that's not fair-" Karai tried to tell him but he cut her off, suddenly enraged.

"That doesn't matter! She was right ok? Our dad's been crazy busy working since our mom left! He went to everything he could don't get me wrong he has been around. But for the most part it's been me taking care of Angel, and now she's in The Foot!" He shouted as he stood up and began pacing around. "I'm eighteen and I've already failed one kid, it's only a matter of time before I fail the other one!" He finished.

Karai also stood up during his rant and, and although she could think of ten different things to say to him, she didn't say anything. Instead she grabbed him and pulled him close to her, wrapping her arms around neck as she pulled him into a hug. She didn't know if she expected him to return the gesture or not, but he did. He wrapped his arms around her waist and, thanks to their close height, buried his face into her shoulder as he let the tears that had been clouding his vision fall freely. Karai still remained quiet as he sobbed into her shoulder, running her fingers through his greasy black hair as if the action would somehow make things better. She is still pretty new to this whole comforting thing and mentally she thought back to the night Justin was turned human and she went into the cage. Just like then she was relying on her instincts here, and quickly learning that comforting her boyfriend was vastly different than comforting her brother's, something that didn't surprise her.

"It's alright," she finally murmured into his ear, "Listen to me. You didn't fail Angel; I know it feels like you did believe me. I felt the same thing when Leo was in a coma," she began to explain and at that Casey pulled away and looked her in the eyes, begging her to explain why on earth she ever felt that was her fault.

"My little brother fell into a coma, you don't think I felt like a failure?" She asked, "I'm supposed to be his big sister, I'm supposed to protect him. But he nearly died fighting The Foot while I sat crying on the edge of a bathtub because I was afraid." She explained before letting out a sigh as she stared at the ground. "Casey I know what you're going through. Every single day for three months I asked myself how the hell I'm supposed to be a mom when I don't even know how to be a sister." She concluded

"You never said anything," Casey finally said, although the two had broken out of their embrace Casey still held a very loose grip on her hands which was broken when she gave a shrug.

"I knew there wasn't anything I could've done," she admitted and Casey understood that, much as he hates to admit it. "Look I know things are a mess right now, but Angel will come around, just don't give up on her." She advised and Casey nodded, albeit uncertainly.

"How can you be sure?" He just had to ask, but he was thankful when Karai gave him a small smile.

"Because I'm living proof," she said and for the first time that night Casey smiled back at her. "Now can we go back inside or do I have to stand up here and list off the reasons you won't fail Justin?" She asked jokingly and Casey chuckled.

"You go back in, I'll be back in a few minutes." He said, his voice telling Karai that he wasn't going to take off after his sister again.

"Fine by me," she said as she headed for the door.

"Hey Karai," Casey's voice stopped her just as she opened the door that led back into the building,

"Yeah?" She asked turning around, comforted by the sight of Casey's usual smile.

"I love you,"

Karai hoped her face wasn't showing how shocked by the words she really was. The only love she had ever known was the sort of obligatory kind between her and her family. Sure she loves Justin in not exactly the same way, but he's her son. Casey on the other hand, Casey's different. Casey doesn't have to love her, or even like her. The idea of loving someone; loving them not because you have to but because you just do, it was such a new concept to the kunoichi. For this reason she could only hope that Casey wouldn't comment that she was slow to return the sentiment, but she did return it. Karai, after discovering that she unknowingly lived a lie throughout her entire childhood and is basically still living one thanks to the circumstances of her son's existence, tends to stick to the truth when she can.

And tonight was no exception.

"I love you too,"

* * *

"What's got you so mad?" Leo asked as he walked into Raph's bedroom. The red-banded turtle was currently lying on his bed, tossing a ball at the ceiling and had been doing so all day.

"What do you think?" He asked and Leo just rolled his eyes.

"You can't seriously still be mad at Karai for quitting the team," he said but the look Raph gave him conveyed the message that he was. "Raph she's not like us, she had a son to think about." The leader tried to convince his brother for what seemed to be the billionth time.

"Leo I get that, but we risked our necks on more than one occasion to bring her home and she just took off! I get quitting the team, I even get moving out, but she didn't have to move out less than a week after we saved New York and she could at least visit once in awhile! She knows we're stuck down here-" Raph ranted

"That was never her fate," Leo interrupted. "She may be our sister Raph but she's not a turtle. She's a human, like it or not she can have a life on the surface and that's what she chose." He lectured but Raph only sighed as he faced his brother.

"It's been three years Leo."

* * *

Raph awoke with a start and in a cold sweat. He found himself sitting up as he looked around the room; the one large yet overcrowded restaurant dining room. The closet person to him was Mikey, sleeping soundly in his space on the floor. Across the room was April, and not far from her Donnie and then Leo. Splinter was on the couch and although he noticed Casey and Karai were both gone he tried not to think about it. Instead he just sat there, taking deep breath after deep breath and processing the dream he'd just had.

"Raph?" A quiet voice broke him from his thoughts; he turned his head to see Karai standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Raph just nodded in acknowledgement and so Karai made her way towards him, carefully stepping over Mikey, and sat down next to him.

"Are you ok?" She asked him but he just waved her off.

"Fine, just a bad dream. Where were you?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Bathroom," Raph knew she was lying. "So what was your dream about?" She questioned but Raph only shrugged.

"Nothing," he said and Karai didn't press further, she knows that if he wants to talk he will. "This whole you quitting the team thing… it's just the start isn't it?" He asked and Karai only looked at him in confusion. "Remember that day you and Casey tried telling his dad about the lair?" Raph questioned and Karai nodded.

"And then you tried to kill us," she said

"Well while I was trying to murder Casey he reminded me that you don't have to hide in the sewers." Raph began but he stopped when he saw the frown cross Karai's face, and couldn't help but find it amusing that she was clearly annoyed by this. "He was right. He could've been nicer about it, but he was right. Sooner or later you're going to have to make a choice between the sewers and the surface." He said but judging by the look on Karai's face she didn't want to believe that. "Karai you're the only one of us that gets to make that choice, and I want you to choose whatever makes you happy. But if you do choose the surface, if you do never come back to the team, just please promise me you won't forget about us." He asked of her as he laid back down, not expecting his sister to lie down beside him, but she did.

"Trust me I could never forget you guys," she laughed, now having a pretty good idea what Raph's nightmare was about. "Look we've got a lot going on right now and this isn't something we need to worry about tonight. But no matter what happens I could never forget you guys, you saved my life." She reassured him, for a moment Raph considered asking when her life was ever in danger but he decided against it, because he just knew she didn't mean it literally.

"What's going on?" Mikey's sleepy voice asked as he rolled over and faced his two siblings. "Are you going to leave us?" He asked Karai, clearly having only caught part of the conversation.

Karai just smiled at him, she may not have any idea what her future holds for her life but she knows one thing for sure; her brothers will always be a part of it.

"Of course not Mikey," she told him gently. He beamed at her before nuzzling his head up against the side of her arm, and then her ribs when she moved her arm and put it around him.

"Good because we didn't rescue you just so you could leave again," he said cheerfully and Karai chuckled at his response.

"You're not going to move are you?" She asked him playfully and he responded by shifting his position slightly so that he was lying with his head on her stomach as if it were a pillow, which was arguably more uncomfortable for Karai than when he was against her ribs.

But she smiled at his antics just the same and instead of scolding her brother she just did her best to make herself comfortable.

"Ok," she conceded, giving into the fact that Mikey wasn't going to move.

* * *

The next day brought chaos. It started bright and early, as it usually seems to, and came in the form of shouting originating from the kitchen.

"Mikey's been in there for five minutes and already it sounds like he's screwed something up!" Raph exclaimed as he and the others attempted to eat what they had for breakfast, which was basically whatever they had scavenged out of the back dumpster.

After another minute or two Splinter stood up and without a word went into the back, leaving the others to exchange glances with each other. They all just sat in silence for a minute before all the noise in the next room suddenly stopped.

"They're in for it now," Raph remarked as he picked at his sort of food.

Another few seconds, which felt like extra long minutes, passed before April finally caved and went to go see what was going on.

All four of them came back to the main room not long after, announcing that Mikey had somehow discovered a way to turn regular mutagen into retro mutagen in just a matter of minutes.

"That's great! But how are we going to spread that much retro mutagen throughout the city?" Leo asked after hearing the news.

"Not to mention that according to April all the humans who were mutated are in Dimension X," Raph pointed out but Donnie just smiled cheerfully.

"I've got a plan,"

* * *

Five hours later found all the humans and Splinter hiding out in the restaurant and watching over an injured Jack Kurtzman while the turtles and a team of their allies calling themselves The Mighty Mutanimals went after the Kraang. Kurtzman was pretty much taken care of, just sleeping at this point. Karai had just gotten Justin down for his nap, which left her to stand by the boarded up window alone, watching the empty city through the boards.

"They will be fine Miwa," Splinter's reassuring voice came from behind her.

Karai hadn't even heard her father, or anyone, approaching but when she turned around there he was.

"I know father," she admitted, Splinter's heavy gaze did not ease one bit.

"You fear you did not make the right decision?" He inquired, Karai had announced her decision to leave the team almost immediately following her conversation with Leonardo, and it received some very surprised responses.

"I don't know," She practically growled. "As a mom, yes I made the right choice. But as a sister… father I'm suppose to protect my brothers! What if something happens out there? Something I could've prevented!" She began to rant, as well as hyperventilate. Her life used to be so simple. She had everything planned out. She was going to master ninjistu and take Shredder's place as leader of The Foot Clan when he died, avenging her mother's death somewhere along the way. She got as far as almost mastering ninjistu and then her life spiraled out of control.

"You are much like your mother Miwa," Splinter said, effectively halting his daughter's rant. She looked up at him, surprise written all over her face. He wanted to smile, to tell her just how much she truly does remind him of her mother, but right now he couldn't. It brought back to many painful reminders of the biggest mistake he ever made. "When you were born your mother did not want this life for you. She begged me to leave the life of a ninja behind, she wanted to us to take you and move to New York. I refused." He sadly admitted, "My father was not well, and though I believe your mother would've been willing to stay in Japan simply through his passing that is not what I wanted. My father always told Saki and I that we needed to continue our clan after his death, but perhaps I should've listened to your mother." He sighed

"I'm glad you didn't," Karai finally said, taking Splinter completely by surprise. "I miss her, more than anything. But if you had come to New York with her the turtles might never have existed, and then the Kraang would win easy." She continued, "At the farmhouse I thought about not training Justin, but that's not an option. He was born, well more or less, into this life and no offence but I don't think my mother could've kept me away from it even if you did leave when she asked." She finished, she loves her mother, but whom was she kidding with that plan? Shredder would've found them sooner or later.

Splinter just smiled at his daughter; she really is just like her mother. So fierce, so scared, and not willing to take any chances when it comes to the safety of her child.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! So it was just pointed out to me that i never explained how The Kraang got Casey's DNA, whoops! I thought i mentioned it but apparently not. The idea is that every science class in April's school sent their DNA to the genome project, thus including Casey. Since the Kraang had samples from every living species in that room i figured they probably had human, so the human sample was the one Casey sent in! Thanks for pointing that lack of explanation out!**


	31. Time to go Home

She watched from the shadows. The humans had been returned to New York, thanks to the turtles she had heard, and now Angel was watching longingly from the shadows of the fire escape as her father and Casey entered the long abandoned apartment. She wanted to go in, she really did, and technically she could have. Her deal with Shredder doesn't prevent her from seeing her father, but Casey got to him first. She and Casey are enemies now; he works with the turtles.

 _The turtles who saved the humans,_ she reminded herself. _This isn't right,_ her thoughts continued, whether it's Casey's actions that are wrong or her own she's not sure anymore but her and her brother being enemies isn't right. They're siblings, they shouldn't be fighting like this.

Thinking back to when this whole mess began, to even before Casey brought Justin and stories of Karai around, Angel remembered one afternoon back at school. The whole class was sitting on the carpet, because yes third graders still sit on the magic carpet. Mrs. Wilson was reading a storybook about the civil war. She explained to the class that not only was the country split apart and fighting but so were families. Brothers would enter the war on opposite side, some brothers even shot and killed each other. The idea was something Angel just hadn't been able to get her head around. A husband and wife fighting she could understand, but brothers? How could two people who knew each other all their lives, who shared everything, possibly bring themselves to fight against each other with lives on the line?

It just didn't make any sense to her back then, and now that's she's living it, it still doesn't.

* * *

"Ok so Casey and April went home, but where are Karai and Donnie?" Raph questioned as he and two of his brothers straightened up the completely destroyed living room. The battle with the Kraang may be over, but now they were faced with the task of cleaning their lair.

"Donnie got his computer working so he's helping Karai out with that favor she asked him for." Leo answered as he and Mikey pushed the pinball machine back into its upright position.

"Can't they do that later? They can't just stick us with clean up duty!" Mikey whined

"Donnie said the sooner he does it the less chance he has of getting caught. " Leo said in his brother's defense, although he was also a little peeved that Karai and Donnie felt the need to take care of this RIGHT NOW. The surface is going to be in chaos and confusion for at least a few more days, they could've waited a couple hours.

"Fine but we're leaving them the kitchen," Raph remarked, insistent on making his currently absent siblings clean something other than their bedrooms.

* * *

Meanwhile Donnie was sitting on the side of an overturned filing cabinet in his lab, typing away on his laptop, while Karai paced the room with her somewhat fussy son on her hip. He didn't mind being held, but he wouldn't exactly mind being put down either. The thing was he just wanted to move but the ground was still covered in broken glass and even some loose wire, so no way in hell was Karai setting him down.

"Seriously?" Donnie questioned when he finally found what he was looking for, "You got a D in English?"

"Have you ever seen me write anything in English?" Karai asked him, annoyed with his revelation.

After her conversation with Raph the previous night she realized that he was right, she can lead a life on the surface. She could procrastinate it all she wants, but she knows that sooner or later she will choose that life, especially now that she's done with the team. Knowing that the sooner she starts the better off she'll be she was planning to go find a job somewhere, but then Casey got to her. He told that great as that would be for now she wouldn't be able to spend her whole life living off minimum wage and maybe a few tips depending on where she ended up. It took some convincing but he managed to talk her into enrolling in school for what would be her senior year so she could at least get her diploma, although he has no idea what the school system will do about having missed the entire first half of the school year. The plan was for Donnie to fake a permanent record for her so she could transfer, but upon hearing that idea Karai reminded him that Shredder homeschooled her all her life and she actually has a record. So now it was just a matter of transferring the information before the city could get itself situated enough for someone to notice Donnie hacking into school records.

As the turtle worked Karai peeked over his shoulder and frowned at what she saw on his computer screen.

"Excuse me Mr. Accurate but it was a D+," She defended upon seeing her actual grade in the course, Donnie just rolled his eyes and continued typing.

"And… done!" He eventually said in triumph, Karai looked over his shoulder to see.

"Hang on, the name's wrong." She pointed out and Donnie took another look at the file.

In the top left hand corner of the paper was a line he had read as quickly as possible, because just like his sister he hated the lie that was written there.

 _Student Name: Karai Oroku_

"No it's right, the family name goes second in New York, and pretty much everywhere else in America." Donnie tried to say, although he knew that isn't what she meant.

"I know that," she half growled at him, Donnie's a genius so it's really annoying when he tries to play dumb. "But that's not my name anymore." She said a little more softly.

"Then what is?" Donnie questioned carefully, his fingers beyond ready to erase that name from the computer.

Karai thought for a minute, but only for a minute because this answer she did not need to think about.

"Karai Hamato."

* * *

"I thought you would have returned to your father?" Shredder asked more than stated when his youngest recruit reported for duty that night as usual, he was expecting to have to hunt her down and brutally remind her of the life she had chosen.

"I couldn't find him," she lied, which Shredder most likely saw through but simply chose not to comment on.

"Xever has a mission for you," he said darkly and when he did Angel couldn't help but grimace, business as usual.

* * *

After a few hours of cleaning, which at some point both April and Casey had come over to help with, things were finally settling down in the lair and one by one everyone was crashing in either their bedrooms or the living room.

"Ugh, get a room," Raph groaned when he went to flop onto the couch only to find that Casey and Karai already occupied it.

"Oh grow up, we're not doing anything." Karai argued with him, Casey was lying on the couch and she was lying half on the couch, half on Casey. But that's all they were doing, they had finished their cleaning assignments and Mikey had asked if he could play with Justin so now the two of them were finally relaxing.

"Yeah but we should get going," Casey put in with a groan that matched Raph's, he had been home with his father earlier and had already lied saying he had no clue what happened to Angel, he hated the thought of going back to that and so naturally he wasn't too excited for it.

"Ugh…" Karai drawled out as Casey playfully shoved her off the couch, knowing she'd catch herself.

"Come on," he prompted, they had decided that Shredder most likely wouldn't try anything tonight and so, now that things are some semblance of calm, Casey decided it was time he brought Karai home and they clear up everything they can.

"Yeah, yeah," Karai muttered as she got to her feet.

"What's the matter? You nervous to meet his dad?" Raph teased as he dropped onto the now vacant couch.

"No, but just like you I'm tired." She excused before she left the room to get Justin and Casey followed her.

"Wait are you nervous?" He asked as the two of them walked down to Mikey's room.

"What?" Karai asked, halting in her spot. "No I'm not nervous," she insisted and Casey seemed to believe it, so she moved on with the conversation. "But can you take Justin and meet me there? There's something I need to take care of first." She explained

"What is it?" Casey questioned

"I'll tell you later," Karai responded and Casey looked like he was about to argue but she didn't give him time. "Please just trust me," she asked and hesitantly he nodded.

"Ok."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Angel demanded as she and Fishface moved along the rooftops of the city.

"You're unusually irritable tonight," Xever commented without stopping.

"Well sorry but my dad was rescued today by those turtles that we're supposed to kill and my brother got to go home to him!" The young girl ranted, causing Xever to sigh.

"There is only one way out of The Foot child," he said to her

"Don't remind me," she grumbled as they finally came to stop.

"Don't believe everything he tells you," a taunting voice came from the shadows, just as Karai of all people revealed herself.

"Shredder is still after you," The mutant fish growled at the kunoichi

"I'm still out of The Foot Clan aren't I?" She asked sarcastically.

"But at what price?" Xever demanded, "Your life is constantly in danger, as well as that of your child's!"

"My son's life would be far worse if I were still in The Foot!" She shouted back and Xever smirked at her, clearly enjoying having gotten a rise out of her. "Ok you've had your fun," she sneered, clearly annoyed.

"Fun that I deserved for coming out here in the first place. Now would you please tell me why I am here? And why you think I'll hand her over to you?" The annoyed fish demanded.

"I owe you two, correct?" Karai asked,

"Yes and I owe you nothing!" Xever snapped, but Karai only smirked.

"Angel do you want to come home?" She questioned and at first Angel didn't answer, not that Xever gave her much of a chance.

"You are crazy if you believe I would betray Master Shredder by letting you take her, you're lucky I allowed you to escape imprisonment!" He objected

"Besides were you listening at the docks? I don't want to go back! Unlike you I won't run away from the man who took me in." Angel said and Karai had to fight to keep herself from snapping.

"Angel, Shredder only took you in so he could turn you into a killer, I would know. Casey, yes he leaves your house at night, but he does it so he can protect the city and keep kids like you safe." She began to explain

"I'm not a little kid anymore!" Angel snapped but Karai remained calm.

"That aside you're still his sister, Angel the reason he 'disappeared' was because I had just escaped from Shredder's dungeon and as revenge he promised to kill Justin. If he found Casey then you would've been in danger. When the invasion hit he went back for you but you were already gone." She explained as she made her way closer to the younger girl. "Believe me, he's been worried sick about you." She insisted

"That's enough Karai," Xever snapped when he noticed Angel considering the older girl's words.

"If you were to let her come with me-"

"Which I won't,"

"If you did. Then I'd owe you three. What if I told you I could pay you all three of my debts? Right here, right now?" She inquired, for the first time sparking Xever's interest.

"What did you have in mind?" He questioned skeptically, Karai smirked as she dug through her pocket and pulled out a small vial.

"Retro-mutagen," she bargained, Xever of course nearly gasped at her bargaining chip, and seriously considered handing over the kid. "That's one. I also have a one-way ticket to Brazil. Number three will be for if you hand over Angel, and that will be a way you can disappear from The Foot without dying." She explained and Xever considered the offer, an offer really to good to pass up.

"Why are you even offering this Karai?" He questioned skeptically.

"You let me go so I could be with my family, so go be with yours; go find Mariana." Karai answered as she held out both the plane ticket and the vial. Xever grimaced, staring down at the ground in regret. "She'll want to see you Xever," she said softly

"I am a reminder of her past," Xever growled but Karai shook her head.

"No you're not, you were her hope for her future. Everything you told me, Xever that girl went through a hell worse than the one Shredder inflicted on me. But she had you; you might as well have been her brother. She lost her boyfriend and she lost her child, she couldn't lose you too." She tried to explain

"I didn't leave until she was better!" Xever snapped

"But you're the reason she got better. She couldn't stand to watch you throw your life away like your brother did, like she thought about doing. How would she feel if she could see you here?" She demanded.


	32. We're all Family

It was hours after Xever and Angel had gone out on a simple recon mission, and so naturally when they didn't return Shredder sent Foot bots out after them. All that was recovered was Angel's torn sweatshirt and Xever's breathing equipment along with his nearly destroyed robotic legs, plus the weapon that caused it.

* * *

"You ready?" Karai asked Angel as the two girls approached the apartment; Angel just leaned back against the wall and refused to look her in the eye. "Hey," Karai said, briefly earning her the younger girl's attention. "Casey will take you back," she assured her but Angel only huffed.

"I know; it's my dad I'm worried about. He's in there worrying about his defenseless little girl but… that's not me anymore." She explained and at first Karai frowned, but then she smiled softly before crouching down slightly in order to look the younger girl in the eyes.

"Good, because god forbid he's ever separated from you again, now he'll know he's got nothing to worry about." She said and when Angel gave a small ghost of a smile Karai took that as her cue to knock on the door.

* * *

"Jen, not that I don't want you here, but could you please forget the interrogation tonight?" Casey begged as his dad's friend/should be girlfriend moved about the apartment's kitchenette cleaning.

"I'll do my best but you know I want some answers about that girl, and clearly you're not going to give them to me." The private investigator said distractedly. "I wish you wouldn't have invited her over when the apartment is such a wreck though," she continued to lecture.

"Not your apartment Jen, and I for one want to meet this girl Casey knocked up as soon as possible," Mr. Jones said as he entered the room. Casey just grumbled at the comment, annoyed that he was still getting burned by his dad for 'knocking a girl up' when that is so NOT what happened. But he didn't have time to be annoyed, because just then a knock came from the door.

"Just please go easy on that tonight," the hockey player requested as he made his way to the door, stopping as he passed Justin. His son was sitting on the living room floor, having momentarily stopped playing with the toy bus which was made specifically for babies in order to look at his father. "Between you and me buddy I think your mom is a little nervous about tonight, come on you might make things easier." He said as he picked up Justin, knowing Karai might be a little less nervous if she had their son by her side.

Justin gave no protest whatsoever when he was taken away from his game, the promise of going to his mother exciting him. So now with the baby in his arms Casey went to answer the door, and opened it to see Karai. But before he could greet his girlfriend, he was rendered speechless by the sight of the second person behind her, his little sister.

"A-Angel?" He finally stuttered out. The young girl, who was glaring at him the entire time, finally pushed herself off the wall and moved in front of Karai.

"Sorry I was such a jerk," She muttered as Casey broke out in a huge smile.

"Apology accepted," he said happily and Angel just grinned slightly before looking past her brother.

"DADDY!" She shouted, her face breaking out in a smile arguably bigger than Casey's. All her talk of no longer being a little girl was forgotten for a moment as she shoved past her brother and leapt into her father's arms, leaving Casey alone at the door with his girlfriend.

Casey could not believe what just happened, and when he looked to Karai for an answer she simply chuckled at the over excited look on his face.

"I can't promise Shredder will never find her but he'll be a little too busy fighting the Kraang for awhile to look," she said which caused Casey's face to contort in confusion.

"The Kraang? What are you talking about, they're gone, right?" He asked, barely registering it as Karai lifted Justin from his arms and took him in her own.

"Well I may have used a Kraang blaster in order to make her and Fishface disappear so as far as Shredder is concerned they're still here and they betrayed him." She explained as she settled Justin on her hip.

"Fishface?" Casey questioned

"I owed him a favor or two," Karai explained and Casey just smiled before leaning in to give her a kiss.

"Eeewww!" They suddenly heard Angel from behind them, which caused Karai to laugh against Casey's lips just before he pulled away and decided leading her inside was a better idea now that he was fully aware of his family behind him.

"Good to have you back," He grumbled to Angel as he closed the door.

"Good to be back," Angel whispered evilly in response, even as a Foot Clan assassin in training she had missed messing with her older brother.

Karai wasn't too sure how she expected the night to go, and having Jen present was not something she had counted on. But it went surprisingly well. They told Mr. Jones and his friend the truth about Justin and how he came to be; after the Kraang invasion there's no point hiding that anymore.

"Wait so…. Hold on," Mr. Jones said as he tried to process what he had just been told. "You two, or you," he amended, addressing solely Karai. "Have known about the Kraang for two years?" He asked

"That night was the first night I discovered the Kraang so almost, a year and ten months." She answered with a glance at Justin who was sitting in a high chair, more or less using his hands to feed himself his cut up pieces of pizza. The more or less meaning more of it was on his face rather than in his mouth.

"And they got your DNA from a school project?" Mr. Jones interrogated his son,

"Yeah, can you believe it? The one homework assignment I do and it turns out to be a Kraang plot!" The hockey player exclaimed

"Ok but… what about when you were kidnapped?" Jen questioned "On your records it says that Oroku Saki is your father but…" she trailed off, though it was obvious that she wasn't completely comfortable bringing this up.

Casey and Karai exchanged glances with each other, as if trying to figure out if telling the truth would be worth getting their butt's kicked by Raph again.

"You already know that Oroku Saki kidnapped me as a baby and when I found out the truth I ran away. After I ran away I went and found my real father, he lives here in New York and after the fire he adopted my brothers. The thing is, the reason I asked Casey to keep so much from you, my father and my brothers were more or less part of the Kraang's early experiments. They're mutants, which is why we live off the grid." Karai admitted, she was SO going to be in trouble later but right now she doesn't care, Casey's family deserves to know the truth.

"But what about the cure? It was used on all of New York?" Mr. Jones questioned and Casey chuckled nervously,

"Funny story about that dad, that kind of was her brothers." He said

"My father doesn't want to be cured, and my brothers didn't start off as human. Please you can't tell anyone about my family," Karai begged.

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Raph demanded furiously when Karai came home and admitted that she had told Casey's father and his private investigator friend the truth about her family, about them.

"Karai!" Leo exclaimed, equally unable to believe the news.

"It's Casey's dad! April's dad knows about you guys, Casey's sister knows, what's the big deal?" Karai demanded, suddenly very grateful she had already put Justin to bed.

"Ok first April's dad only knows because we had to rescue him, and Casey's sister knows because she's in The Foot! Second I don't really give a crap about his dad knowing, it's that friend of his I don't trust!" Raph shouted, unaware that Angel has left The Foot and Karai decided now might not be the best time to tell him she met with Fishface and Angel before going to Casey's.

"I get that but if we didn't tell her she was just going to investigate it until she found out for herself, she already confronted Shredder once. It was only a matter of time before she got herself killed and no way do we need that blood on our hands." She argued

"Oh give me a break! We'd rescue her before Shredder could kill her!" Raph claimed,

"Oh so you'd be fine with her finding out then?" Karai inquired, during all this the other three turtles were sitting on the couch; their heads turning from one hot tempered sibling to another as if they were watching a Ping-Pong match. Raph blowing up is bad, Karai blowing up is bad, but Raph and Karai blowing up at each other has all the makings for a full on nuclear explosion.

Raph growled, and for a moment it looked as though Karai may have won, but with Raph and Karai there normally is no real winner. Sure enough instead of thinking through Karai's reasoning Raph shoved her back as he glared daggers into her soul.

"You took an unnecessary risk, princess." He mocked

"Oh snap," Mikey whispered, knowing that once nicknames like 'princess' come into play it's safe to assume that all bets are off.

"You would know all about that wouldn't you Raphael?" Karai mocked, pushing her brother with force equal to what he had used on her.

"Full names, never good." Donnie whimpered to his brothers.

"I've never sold out my family! You-"

"YAME!" Raph was cut off by the angry voice of Master Splinter as he entered the living room, the threat to pressure point his bickering children evident in his eyes.

Raph and Karai stopped shouting, though they were still sending murderous glares at each other with one eye while each used the other eye to watch their father as he approached them. "What is going on in here?" He demanded and Raph opened his mouth to speak but Splinter cut him off. "Calmly, Raphael." The rat warned his son.

"Her and Casey told his dad and that private investigator our secret," the red-banded turtle explained, his voice slightly quieter than a shout.

At first Splinter was shocked and looked to his daughter for an explanation, and she looked back at him with desperate eyes.

"They're his family, and now that the whole world knows about the Kraang there's no point forcing Casey to lie anymore. Especially since his sister knows anyway," she explained.

"His sister's in The Foot!" Raph shouted back and the nervous look Karai gave him said it all. "What did you do?" He demanded of her, his voice cold as ice.

"I got Angel and Fishface out of The Foot Clan, You're wel-"

"Fishface?!" Raph demanded, "How the hell are you still mixed up with Fishface?!" He continued

"I owed him a favor!" Karai shouted back

"What?!" Leo demanded as he stood up, no longer content to just sit on the couch and watch the argument. "So all this time you and Fishface were-"

"Fishface let me go!" Karai shouted over her immediately younger brother, "When Shredder decided he was going to go after Justin, Xever helped me escape! So yeah, I returned the favor." She continued; this left all four of her brothers completely stunned.

"Enough," Splinter finally said, "It has been a long day for all of us." He continued before turning to the three of his sons who had primarily been watching the argument. "I think it may be best for you three to go to your rooms," he said, if there's ever any indication that things have gotten serious it comes when only the ones who aren't in trouble get sent to their rooms.

The three boys left without even the slightest protest, and once they were gone Splinter turned to his two remaining children; the calmness of his demeanor striking even more fear into their eyes than was already present.

"Follow me," he said as he turned and headed towards the dojo, Karai and Raph exchanged curious glances with each other before doing as they were told.

* * *

"Ow!" Casey exclaimed in surprise more than actual pain as he received a playful punch to the side of his arm. The night, which had gone surprisingly well, had wrapped up hours ago. Jen had gone home just after Karai and Justin did and Angel was currently in the shower. He was sitting on the couch, absentmindedly watching some sitcom rerun, when his father punched his arm and sat down next to him. "What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"I knew you were a good kid Casey, but I never thought I'd be this proud of you." He smirked and Casey smiled.

"So does this mean you're not mad I lied to you?" He asked wearily but his father only laughed.

"Mad? Casey everything you said, or rather everything you didn't say, was all to protect that girl and her family. Not to mention that your son was created in a lab on accident. You're a hell of a lot more responsible than I was at your age." The older man said proudly.

"Aw come one dad," Casey started

"I mean it Casey. When your mom told she was pregnant with you I was scared to death. I'm not gonna lie, when I was your age I went out drinking every other night and I did a good amount of smoking too. I didn't think I could take care of a kid, and I had nine months to prepare for it! You, Casey I never could've done what you've done. You took in a kid who biologically is yours but you didn't technically do anything that should've led to him, I would've been too scared." He said but Casey only chuckled.

"You say that now dad but you and I both know you wouldn't. You could've run out on mom and me. Hey I was scared, still am. But Karai told me I could walk away, and despite everything else I'd just heard I knew that was the last thing I wanted to do." Casey explained and his father chuckled as he put an arm around his son and pulled him into a halfway hug.

"I don't know how kid, but you didn't turn out half bad."

* * *

"Sensei we're sorry," Raph said as he and Karai entered the dojo just behind their father.

"Yeah, it was just a little disagreement; it won't happen again." Karai added, she might not have had much experience with her father's punishments yet, aside from house arrest, which wasn't even a punishment when she was under it, but she understood that begging for mercy was probably a good option right now.

"Neither of you is in any trouble," Splinter chuckled as he opened the weapons closet, amused that the teenagers who had been at each other's throats just moments ago were now in agreement due to fear of punishment.

"We're not?" Raph questioned, completely bewildered.

"Then why are we in here?" Karai added, Splinter grabbed something from a shelf in the closet but hid it behind his back as he turned to face his children.

"Many people talk when they are angry with each other, but neither one of you is very comfortable with that concept and would much rather hit each other." The great ninjistu master explained and Karai and Raph exchanged apprehensive glances, was he kidding?

"Wait, you're actually going to let us hit each other?" Raph questioned, he couldn't believe it. All his life he had stomped away to his room, slammed his door, and pounded a punching bag. Then he would spend an eternity listening to how he was wrong and how he HAS to use his words. Now Splinter is just going to let him allow his anger to take control?

In response Splinter revealed that the object behind his back was a spare Tanto as he held it out to Karai, "I prefer to call it a motivated spar," he said. All these years he had tried to get through to Raphael with very little luck, but Miwa speaks his language. She is very much like him, if anything maybe the two can get through to each other.

Upon realizing that this wasn't a joke Karai took the small sword from her father, it was different than her own but she easily adapted. She and Raph stood opposite each other, weapons at the ready, each secretly wondering if their father was actually going to allow this.

"Hajime!" Splinter shouted, well that answers that question. Both of the teens were a little apprehensive at first, each still more than a little confused. But it didn't take long for them to allow their anger control and they charged into the spar.

"What's the matter princess? You're not rusty already are you?" Raph teased as he pushed Karai away from him with his Sais.

"Don't worry Raph, I'll always be able to kick your butt." She taunted in response as she charged him again.

"Doubt that, this time next year you won't even stand a chance against me." He continued to insist as they clashed weapons. Karai rolled her eyes and the two kept going like that for awhile, clashing swords and spitting insults until they managed to knock the weapons out of each other's hands and sparing quickly turned to wrestling.

"Forget it Karai! You can't beat me now and if you quit you never will!" Raph shouted in his sister's face as he pinned her down.

"Didn't we go through this already?" She questioned as she kicked Raph off of her and stood up.

"Well we're going through it again," Raph growled as he charged her but she simply caught his wrists and flipped him over her shoulder, landing him flat on his back with a thud.

"Raph. I have. To quit. The team." She spelled out, standing over him until he growled and pulled her ankle, effectively landing her next to him. "I'm not going to forget you guys, we've been through this!" She said as she landed, trying to ignore how much the landing had knocked the wind out of her.

"You say that but you don't mean it," Raph growled

"What?" Karai exclaimed as they lay there on the ground, panting heavily as they caught their breath.

"Last night you said the exact same thing, then this morning you sign up to go to school!" Raph exclaimed

"Yeah so I can stand half a chance at actually making a life for myself and Justin, I thought you were cool with this!" Karai shouted back

"Well I'm not!" Raph shouted before he realized what he'd said, "I'm not" he said in a much quieter voice. "I know you said you'd never forget us and all but if you go up there-"

"I'll be just like April," Karai interrupted. "I know you haven't spent much time on the surface outside of fighting, so let me tell you something. Families are spread further than cities; they're spread out all over the country and the world. I have no intentions of leaving New York, so will you please quit whining until after I've been in school for a week and if you're still concerned I'm going to abandon you then you can start complaining again." She continued, she knows and appreciates that Raph worries so much about losing her, but he's never going to.

"Fair enough," Raph gave in as the two of them got up, seeming to only then notice that their father was still present.

At first they were embarrassed, actually scratch the _at first_ , they were completely humiliated as they realized this had been their father's plan all along. With their faces still red they walked out of the dojo and didn't speak until they reached the hall that led to their bedrooms.

"No one ever finds out about this," Raph said

"About what? About Splinter outsmarting us or about you actually admitting you'd miss me if I left?" Karai questioned as they arrived at Raph's door.

"Both," he answered simply before he went into his room, muttered an annoyed "goodnight" to Karai, and shut the door in her face.

With just the slightest of smirks Karai continued on to her own room but when she got there she found the door was cracked open, odd considering she was sure she closed it after putting Justin down. Cautiously opening the door she peeked inside and saw that Justin was still in the crib they had salvaged from some back room; something the boys used to sleep in. But he wasn't asleep, instead he was sitting up and he wasn't alone. Mikey was standing beside the crib, happily chatting away and completely unaware of his sister in the doorway behind him.

"I know things have been crazy ever since you came to live with us. I guess the only time things weren't crazy was when your dad was staying here and you were sick for part of that, and that's no fun. But you're going to have so much fun growing up here, even if you don't always live in the lair you'll still be part of our family! You're going to be one kick butt ninja when you grow up, mommy will make sure of that. Plus I can teach you all my pranking secrets! I can show you how to get on Uncle Raph's nerves and the best part is since you're his nephew he can't beat you up like he does me, I mean he could but then your parents would beat him up and trust me it's hard enough to escape your mom but your mom and your dad together could murder any one of us, especially if we hurt you." Mikey said to the baby, a chill running down his spine at the thought.

"You got that right," a voice said from behind him, startled he whipped around to see Karai leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and her usual smirk on her face.

"Hey, um sorry I heard him crying so I came in to check on him. I think he just got scared of being alone cause he calmed down pretty quick but I couldn't get him to go back to sleep so I just, you know, started talking to him and stuff." Mikey explained, seeming a little embarrassed or even guilty.

"I heard," Karai laughed as she entered her room, "you two were plotting against Uncle Raph?" She teased and Mikey's face lit up before he gave a very overdramatic frown and crossed his arms.

"We don't know what you're talking about!" He exclaimed as he shook his head, "right Justin?" He asked, pointing a finger at the baby who shook his head in response, making his mother laugh even more.

"Well call me when you do know, because I would love to get in on it." She said and once again Mikey's face broke out in a grin.

"You got it!" He exclaimed, thrilled to have Karai on his side for at least one future prank against Raph.

"Goodnight Mikey," She said with a smile

"Night sis," Mikey said but instead of leaving the room, like Karai expected him to, he wrapped her in a quick hug. She was in too much of a shock to return the hug before he let go. He then reached into the crib and ran his hand gently over Justin's head. "Night Justin," he said before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.


	33. One Moment

"Would you please stop whining?" April groaned as she and Casey waited in the alley for Karai. It had been three weeks since the Kraang were defeated and now, finally, they were returning to school.

"Stop whining? Red they took away February and April break! Not to mention their making us go until literally the last possible day in June!" Casey continued to complain, to put things simply not very many kids were happy with the amended school schedule.

"Casey we lost the entire first half of the school year, just be grateful they're not holding us back or making us go on Saturdays." April said, she was a little peeved too, after all the school system isn't supposed to force them to make up days missed when there was a state of emergency; and the city was well past that point for the past few months. But considering they lost so much time, even the biggest complainers couldn't argue that the school committee's actions aren't justified.

"Yeah it could be a lot worse," Karai's voice interrupted the conversation as she emerged from the manhole cover.

She threw her book bag out the hole first, just a beat up grey backpack. Then she climbed out and shut the sewer entrance behind her. She was wearing her usual sneakers, jeans, blue sweatshirt, and she had added a pair of fingerless gloves to her look as well as her earrings.

"Coming from a girl who just transferred from the Japanese homeschool system, with Shredder, I'll take your word for it." Casey said as he grabbed her hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"This is weird," April said as the three of them began walking.

"Come on Red I thought you were cool with it," Casey said

"No not you guys, I meant school. After everything that's happened it just feels weird to be walking to school again, like things are going to be normal for a little while." She clarified,

"No offence April but I don't think anything is ever going to be normal," Karai said and April couldn't help but agree, normal isn't in the cards for them anymore.

"What is it with you two and wanting a normal life?" Casey questioned, "Do you not realize how awesome everything we've done is?" He questioned excitedly; the girls may think about how things would be if they were normal but he would never understand that.

"Hey I never said I wanted a normal life," Karai defended

"Good because even if you weren't a ninja from a family of mutants, you're dating me so normal is out of the question." Casey smirked while Karai and April both rolled their eyes, there was no arguing with that.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the lair, Karai had left Justin in the care of her brothers, although Leo was the one primarily in charge. So far things were going all right, there had been a little trouble in the morning when Justin realized that his mother was leaving but he's almost two and is beginning to understand what words mean. He understands that when his mom says she'll be back she means it, and her brothers know that's something she's proved despite all odds. So now things were going better and Mikey was the one presently caring for Justin… well sort of.

"I can't believe it," Raph said when he walked into the living room and found his little brother on the floor with their nephew, and a card game. "First you loose to a half frozen cat, now you're losing to a baby." He remarked but Mikey just stuck out his tongue.

"At least I got him to stop putting the cards in his mouth!" He exclaimed proudly, Raph simply raised an eyebrow at his little brother before his attention was snapped to his nephew.

"Hey!" He shouted, startling Mikey into turning around to see that the baby had a playing card crumpled up and shoved halfway into his mouth.

"Hey bad baby!" Mikey reprimanded as he took the card "Oh man! My Silver Dragon! That was a limited edition!" He mourned the partially ruined card while Raph rolled his eyes and picked up his nephew.

"I know; if he ever ends up with kids, they're dead." He said to the baby who simply smiled up at him, Raph grinned back down and playfully ruffled the boy's hair.

* * *

Karai knew school was boring, but this guy she had for Algebra was so mind numbingly dull she was beginning to miss Shredder's dungeon. She glanced over at the girl in the seat next to her, only to find that her eyes were closed as her head hung low. Finally the bell rang, waking the girl next to Karai, and the students gathered their things and walked out of the class. A part of Karai found it strange, how after everything that's happened these students can act like it's any other first day of school. She had seen people high-fiving in the halls, kids kicking their lockers, and now she had seen a girl sound asleep. It just seems so weird how after what some people are calling an apocalypse these kids can move back into their old routines so effortlessly.

* * *

When Casey first got to his last period study hall, the one he's forced to take as part of the program he hates so much, it was a bit like a reunion. Only half of them were there, just him, Josh, and Mickey. But they've all been together, through everything, all throughout high school. They're all friends; so even for half of them to be reunited was still a great feeling. The missing three kids were Damian, Amanda, and Jessie, and although there was no word on Damian and Jessie the teacher explained that Amanda tested out of the program at the end of the last school year.

"She got out?" Mickey asked in amazement; it was never explicitly spoken but that was the goal of all the students in the program, to leave.

"You know you guys always have fun in here," Their teacher Mr. Tivoli reminded the girl who was clearly a mix of excited and jealous for her friend, the reason these goals were unspoken was because Mr. Tivoli hates hearing about it.

"So Mick, where's Damian?" Josh asked the girl, effectively changing the subject.

Suddenly the bright smile fell from Mickey's face, she and Damian had been together since freshman year, and they were inseparable. So when Casey saw that look of hopelessness on her face, he knew something bad had happened.

"He got Kraanged," she said, "We both survived the initial invasion but about a month later some patrol bots caught us, and they turned him into one of those monsters and took him away. Obviously he's human now, thanks to whatever saved those people. But he's got some mild PTSD; his mom thinks he'll be back to school by next week, I'm going to see him later." She explained, the boys nodded in understanding.

"Tell him we say hi," Josh said and that returned at least a hint of Mickey's smile.

"I will. So what happened to you two during the apocalypse?" She asked

"Well thank god I had been away for the weekend when it happened." Josh answered

"I was with my girlfriend when it started, we were at her place and so after one hellish drive through the city we got out. Red's family has a place out in the country and we were with her, we all crashed there." Casey explained

"Wait you have a girlfriend?" Mickey questioned, apparently she stopped listening after the first sentence.

"Oh yeah, you never heard. Apparently Jones not only has a girlfriend but he knocked her up about, what was Casey? Two years ago?" Josh questioned and while Casey's face turned beat red Mickey's jaw dropped, and Mr. Tivoli just pretended he didn't hear a single word his students said.

"Wait so you've had a girlfriend, you've had a kid, for two years and you never told any of us?" Mickey finally spluttered out, a little hurt that Casey would keep such a thing from his friends.

"No… Ok just, here's what happened," Casey began, he and Karai had worked out an entire story because now that they're in the same school and have no intentions on hiding their relationship they were eventually going to wind up explaining something to somebody.

"Look it was a little less than three years ago now. Karai was on some kind of business trip with her dad-" Casey began but he was cut off by Mickey.

"Wait Karai? You mean that new girl who sits next to me in Algebra?" She questioned and Casey just shrugged.

"Probably, about five foot six, pixie haircut, dyed blond in the back?" He began describing.

"Yup," Mickey confirmed and Josh smirked

"Wow, day one and you stayed awake long enough to notice the person sitting next to you." He joked, knowing that any sort of math class usually put Mickey to sleep in five minutes or less.

"Oh don't worry I fell asleep as soon as the teacher started talking." She said smugly

"Mikayla," Mr. Tivoli said sternly

"I'm working on it," Mickey defended

"Anyway," Casey began again, "I don't know how but her dad and Jen know each other and Jen dragged me along with her to some meeting. Apparently Karai wanted to be there about as much as I did, we started talking and then we hung out a couple times after that. She mentioned that her and her dad were thinking of moving to the city but she didn't think that was going to happen for awhile, we met up the night before she was supposed to leave and one thing led to another and… I'll spare you two the details." He sort of joked

"Thank you," Mickey said, not joking at all.

"I texted her a couple times after she left but she never responded, after awhile I just gave up. She finally did end up moving to the city five and a half months ago, I found out when I ran into her at the park, she had our son with her." He explained, well more like lied but it's for the best.

"And you two are together now?" Mickey asked once she had processed the story

"Yeah, I mean it's not like we got together the day I found it out; it was after like a month and a half of just adjusting to everything. But things are good now," he said and to be honest there wasn't a single lie in that sentence.

"So are you going to bring her to a game?" Josh asked, apparently he hadn't forgotten their conversation from the night Angel showed up at the ice rink with Justin.

"Uh about that Josh," Casey said awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck, "look I don't know exactly what's going to happen after high school but I do know that this afternoon I'm going out and looking for a job, I've got a kid now and he needs me so I'm uh… I'm quitting hockey." He admitted.

* * *

"Hey how was…" Leo trailed off, thinking it wise not to finish his sentence. It was just past two o'clock, Justin was still taking his nap, and three human teenagers had just returned to the lair from school and it didn't appear as though the day had gone well for them.

"I had to listen to it the whole way home," April said, Karai and Casey were caught up in an argument, one that had apparently lasted their entire walk from school.

"What are they fighting about?" Donnie questioned as April dumped her backpack onto the couch.

"Well Karai met up with him after last period and he and one of his friends were talking about him quitting hockey," She explained

"Wait Casey's quitting hockey?" Leo asked in disbelief

"Depends," April answered

"On what?" Mikey asked but April simply pointed to the arguing couple.

"Whether or not Karai can talk him out of it,"

Meanwhile Karai and Casey weren't completely oblivious to the turtles and April watching them and so before too much could be said they both walked right back out of the lair and continued their argument in the sewer tunnels.

"Look this isn't your choice it's mine," Casey growled quietly

"Casey you said you wanted to become a professional hockey player-" Karai started to argue.

"Which we all know I wasn't serious about!" Casey interrupted

"That aside you've still been playing ever since you little." She continued

"You've been training since you were little, heck since you could walk! But you decided to quit your team-"

"That is completely different!" Karai interrupted

"How?" Casey demanded, however he didn't expect Karai to be able to come up with an answer.

"For one thing my life is constantly in danger on patrol, and I highly doubt you're going to die playing hockey. Secondly the guys are perfectly capable of handling things without me, if they get desperate I'll go and help them in a heartbeat. Your team is way behind on practices and according to your friend you've already lost half your players, they need you!" She shouted at him

"My family is more important than hockey!" Casey shouted in response

The look on Karai's face was one of pure frustration, and Casey could see in her eyes that their argument had just become about something more than hockey.

"Casey. Your dad and your sister are fine, you know I'm trying to find a job too and I can provide for Justin by myself for a few months-"

"Like I'm going to let you do that?" Casey demanded, obviously offended. "You're my family too Karai and-"

"No I'm not!" She cut him off with a scream that stopped his heart cold. For a minute she just stood there, the reality of what she had just said crashing down on her. "Casey I didn't mean-" she started but he cut her off.

"Hey I get it, I know that after everything that's happened you take things one day at a time." That right there, that made Karai's heart sink with guilt. He knows her. He knows her so well and yet she can tell that her snapping hurt him, and that's the last thing she wanted to do. But he's right, because honestly when she thinks about her future she barely sees anything. She sees herself, and if she concentrates really hard she sees a blur of a little boy, Justin. But she can never see Casey, or her brothers and father for that matter, not yet. Because anything can happen, everything can change in less than an instant, that's the only thing in this world that she's sure of.

"Look I've got to get going, I'll come back later alright," Casey and then without another word he headed off down the tunnels of the sewers.

Karai stood there for a minute, watching him go and wishing she could just move past her fear of…abandonment? Whatever it was she wished she could get over it, because she wants to believe that she and Casey will always be together, but she may have just ruined that.

* * *

The rest of her day was not much better. After Justin woke up and she took care of his diaper she tried to make some sense of her homework but that was pretty much useless. After over an hour of struggling while halfheartedly playing with her son as she attempted to work Donnie came into the living room where he found her, sitting on the floor of the pit with her back against the couch as Justin ran back and fourth between her and a pile of blocks.

"You know I could help you with that," he offered and with a huff Karai handed her brother the paper.

Donnie examined the worksheet for a moment before looking back at Karai.

"This is a simple reading assignment," he said

"Yeah but it has questions at the end and I told you, I don't know how to write in English." She explained; Donnie simply blinked in surprise.

"Wait you actually don't know how to write in English?" He questioned, when Karai had said that he just assumed she meant she wasn't particularly good at it.

"I know how, I just don't know how to spell 90% of the words." She defended, not that it was much of a defense.

The next thing she knew she was wishing she hadn't said anything, because despite her frustration already being far past it's limits Donnie spent the next hour teaching her how to spell and figure out spelling for herself.

* * *

Casey returned to the lair a few hours later, feeling very guilty. He never should've left like that, but there was somewhere he really needed to be.

 _It wasn't worth ditching her like that,_ he thought to himself, in case it's not obvious Casey Jones really doesn't like himself right now.

He didn't mean to say it like that, like he honestly sees him and Karai always being together. Obviously he doesn't envision them braking up, no one thinks like that. But it's just a natural part of him, he loves her and it's just in his nature to take care of the people he loves.

 _She'd kill me if I ever told her that one;_ he mused to himself, a little bit more of his usual smirk on his face.

When he reached the lair he found the Hamato family sitting around their little island counter/table eating supper, and boy was it awkward. He'd walked in around dinnertime before, and normally he'd just sneak up behind Karai and give her a kiss or he'd insert himself in whatever the conversation was. But tonight he just sort of froze in the entranceway as everyone looked up and stared at him.

"Dada!" Justin squealed happily, pizza sauce spread all over his face.

"I'll grab his bag," Karai muttered as she stood up, knowing Casey was here to pick up Justin like he said he would this morning.

Since Justin doesn't have a high chair here he was sitting on Karai's lap, who handed him over to Leo as she stood up. She walked out of the room and past Casey without a word.

"Karai!" He called after her, following her as she silently marched to her room. "Karai!" He continued, normally he wouldn't follow her into her bedroom but considering she didn't slam the door in his face he figured he might as well try and make things right, so he ignored what was most likely a huge boundary line and followed her.

She mostly ignored him as she bent under her bed and pulled out the bag they used for Justin's things that moved with him from place to place, which was basically one extra set of clothes and some spare diapers.

"Karai he doesn't even need that, most of his stuff's at my place anyway!" Casey exclaimed in frustration, "Would you please just talk to me?" He pleaded and with a huff she turned around, leaning against her mattress.

"What do you want me to say?" She asked, "that I regret what I said? That I do think we'll always be together?" She continued to question, "Well I wish I could. I love you, that much I know, and I want to believe things are going to stay this way but-"

Casey cut her off, and he did so by cupping her cheeks and slamming his lips against hers.

Karai was caught off guard at first, but she soon found herself kissing back and wrapping her arms around his neck. For a moment they pulled apart, and for a moment more they just stared into each other's eyes. Then Karai kissed him again, his arms fell around her waist as he kissed back and at some point he turned her around and backed her against the door, effectively closing it. This was all the convincing either of them needed. They had kissed before, but never like this. They were always more caught up in the outside world than they were in the heat of a moment. They had said they were in love, but a part of each of them had always wondered if it was real. In this moment they knew. They would've gotten together even if Justin hadn't come into their lives; it just might have taken a little longer and no doubt would've happened very differently. This was different than any other kiss; this was just them. Still pressed against the door Karai cupped Casey's face with her hands, as if begging him not to pull away. But eventually he did, because really they were both running out of breath.

"So where did you go?" Karai asked playfully

"I had hockey practice," Casey answered equally as playfully before his face became serious. "Look I know you can handle things for awhile, but I will quit-" he started to say but Karai shook her head.

"I appreciate it Casey, I really do. But I want you to stay with it, please." She asked more than told but Casey nodded anyway.

"Just promise me you'll tell me if you need me to quit," he bargained

"Deal," she accepted and with a smile he leaned in and kissed her again.

"I owe you big time," he said against her lips and she couldn't help but smile against his.

"Just don't blow the season," she asked and with a chuckle Casey pressed his lips against hers one more time.

Karai may not be able to picture her future clearly, and maybe she never will. But in that moment something changed inside her, because if she looked just a little harder she could clearly see Casey. She wasn't exactly sure where he was, but he's there, and that's enough for her.


	34. So This is Normal

One thing Karai was learning very quickly about school (other than she was going to need to pay more attention when Donnie tries to teach her how to write) was that she hates gym class. She thought she would enjoy a class where the main focus is on sports and other physical activities, and that part she does. What she doesn't enjoy is the changing into gym clothes part. The girl's locker room was a mostly open space, the only private space being the one bathroom stall, which clearly had been built by an idiot as the door was nowhere near wide enough to close over and lock. She didn't mind taking off her gloves, the scars on her hands aren't such a big deal. But her whole body, not even her entire family knows about that yet. For the most part her scars have faded, and the worst of it is on her chest, stomach, and back, which are all covered by a shirt so that doesn't really matter. She figured out a long time ago how to change shirts without taking the first one off before the second one was on. The scars on her legs had mostly faded, her shins are still pretty bad but she could change fast and avoid too many people noticing. What she hated was because she's moving around so much, and it's not cold like it is on the rooftops, she pretty much had to wear short sleeves and the scars on her arms are still clearly visible.

A part of her knew this was ridiculous, scars fade but they never completely go away and she sure as heck doesn't plan to spend the rest of her life wearing just long pants and sweatshirts. She knows she'll need to get over it eventually, so she forced herself to suck it up and dress in gym shorts and a t-shirt like a normal person. In the end she wasn't really sure what she was ever afraid of in the first place. No one said anything to her about it until after school when she went home carrying her sweatshirt rather than wearing it.

"What happened to your arms!?" Mikey exclaimed the minute she walked into the lair. Casey was at hockey practice and April had to stay after for something, so Karai was alone in this.

"It's from being electrocuted," she answered and they didn't see it but Donnie gulped from his position behind Mikey. He'd felt terrible when Karai was lying unconscious in the back of the van, and he'd felt worse when he had bandaged her up. Obviously he's far from stupid, he knew she must have scars and he even figured that was the reason they never caught her wearing short sleeves. But seeing this was a totally different thing. The guilt all came rushing back to him. He did this to her, his own sister, he scarred her like this.

"Does it, you know hurt?" Mikey continued to pester, although Leo and Raph could see what was going on from their places on the couch they decided not to comment. Leo already knew and Raph, although he never gave the subject much thought, wasn't really that surprised.

"No, not anymore," Karai answered Mikey with a shake of her head.

* * *

Karai thought that was the end of it, but she discovered she was wrong when she found herself being woken at one in the morning by the sound of her door cracking open.

"Sorry, I know it's late but we just got back from patrol," Donnie apologized as she sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Did something happen?" She questioned, none of the guys ever woke her to tell her that they were back; but when she quit the team she made them promise to tell her if they ever needed her.

"No," Donnie assured her as he stepped into her bedroom, staring at his feet. "I just needed to apologize to you," he said but Karai just looked curiously at him.

"What are you talking about?" She asked

"Your scars, if I hadn't fired that weapon-"

"Donnie," she interrupted him, he looked up to see her sitting on the edge of her bed, her eyes sending him some kind of silent message to go join her. So with a sigh of guilt he obeyed as if he were a child about to be scolded by his mother; although he strangely didn't feel like she was going to scold him. "Donnie what happened to me isn't your fault, if you hadn't fired that harpoon we'd all be dead." She reminded him but he barely gave her a shrug as he refused to meet her gaze.

"Maybe, but you also wouldn't have gotten hurt," he said

"Donnie I have scars, scars that will fade. If the option is between my skin and all of our lives; you could light me on fire and I wouldn't regret it." She half joked.

"Technically if we lit you on fire your chance of survival would be even slimmer than they were when you were electrocuted-" Donnie cut himself off this time, "Sorry, are you sure you're ok?" He asked but Karai simply smiled.

"I'm sure," she told him before leaning over to give him a hug.

"Now go to bed, you need some sleep." She said to him and he just chuckled as he let go of her.

"Man, Justin's not going to be able to break bedtime too much when he's older is he?" The genius joked and his sister smiled, sparing a glance over at her son who was sound asleep in his crib.

"I doubt he'll want to, he seems to like his sleep." She said and Donnie couldn't help but laugh, his nephew is a particularly easy baby to put to sleep.

"Goodnight," he said as he exited the room and Karai crawled back under her covers.

"Night," she responded.

* * *

The next few weeks were a little hectic to say the least. It took her some time but Karai managed to find an after school job at a little café. For the most part it was a pretty good job, she worked after school three or four days a week plus one day on the weekends, if she ever needed a specific day off their were enough people there that she could easily switch shifts with somebody, and she usually made between five and ten dollars a night in tips. Meanwhile Casey had hockey practice every day after school, which means Justin was spending a lot of time in the care of his uncles, not that they mind. They still went out on patrol at night; and in those patrols they had fought a mutant who was a literal garbage man, The Foot, and Mikey had befriend a mutant boy who was now called Mondo Gecko. All in all the nights had been pretty interesting lately. But tonight is Casey's first game of the season and Karai didn't have to work so she was currently trying to get Justin into his jacket, much easier said than done.

"He's been spending too much time with Mikey," Leo commented as he watched Karai chasing her son around the pit, she had managed to all but zip up his coat before he took off running.

"No kidding," Karai agreed as she finally grabbed hold of the little boy, scooping him up in her arms and turning him upside down, which only made him laugh harder.

Once Justin had had his fun Karai set him down and zipped up his jacket before lifting him up again, knowing he'd just take off again if she didn't.

"April let's go!" She shouted through the lair, ten minutes ago the red head had been in the living room nagging her to hurry up and now that Justin was all set she was nowhere to be found.

"Coming!" April called, emerging from Donnie's lab.

As the two girls and Justin left the lair and began walking down the sewer tunnel Karai smirked, knowing the reaction she was about to get from April.

"Sorry if I interrupted your date," she teased, April just looked at her incredulously.

"What? What are you talking about? Donnie and me were just hanging out!" She exclaimed

"Sure…" Karai teased, of course she knows Donnie's too shy to actually make a move on April and so the two really were just sitting around in there looking over the turtle's latest experiment.

"I'm serious!" April defended, Karai just laughed, which resulted in April growling out of frustration before the conversation was dropped.

* * *

The game went better than expected, their team lost but considering they were down three players and they only lost by two points it wasn't bad. Justin didn't like the buzzer very much, but aside from that he was fine throughout the game. Angel was there with her father, looking more like a typical fourth grader than Shredder's latest assassin.

"How are you doing?" Karai asked the younger girl after the game when they were waiting around for Casey to come out of the locker room, and her father was gone of course.

"I'm alright," Angel responded with a shrug, "dad's trying to send me to counseling though." She said grudgingly.

"Why?" Karai asked

"Because I can't tell him what actually happened to me during the apocalypse but he doesn't believe me when I say I just went around hiding in different buildings so he wants to send me to a counselor because he thinks I've been traumatized." She explained and Karai let out a sigh.

"That's rough," she agreed, "But just tell him what you can. Tell him about Mondo, he knows about the turtles so it's ok. Tell him how he brought you to Xever and if he asks just tell him Xever trained you for survival, he doesn't need to know about The Foot but he does need to know something." She advised and Angel nodded, considering the idea.

"Is it bad that I liked The Foot?" She questioned, "I didn't like training to kill obviously, but I liked fighting." She further explained, obviously feeling not only guilty but as if having enjoyed fighting made her a bad person.

"No it's not bad, I love fighting." Karai reassured her

"But didn't you quit?" Angel questioned

"Yeah, because of this thing." The older girl joked, lightly hiking up her son in her arms. "I still train, well not so much now since I started school. But my point is I still love it, it's just not the right time for me to be doing it. But why don't you ask your dad to sign you up for some martial arts classes?" She suggested and Angel appeared to consider the idea, but before she could say anything Casey made his way through the crowd of people left in the rink.

"There you guys are!" He exclaimed

"Waiting around for you slowpoke," Karai laughed as Casey kissed her before taking Justin from her.

"Hey buddy," he said to the baby who was happy enough to see him.

"Come on hockey boy, Mikey's texted me three times in the last hour asking where we are." Karai said as she intertwined the fingers of Casey's free hand with her own and began to lead him out of the arena with Angel trailing behind them.

"Can I carry Justin?" She pleaded and Casey chuckled, momentarily halting him and Karai and taking back his hand.

"Sure kid," he said to his sister as he passed his son down to her, just as he did Karai's phone buzzed again.

"It's Mikey again, let's get going." She insisted, April had left the game immediately after it ended so she could go help the guys, and clearly they had finished because Mikey is obviously getting impatient.

* * *

"Happy birthday Justin!" Mikey shouted when the four humans made it back to the lair, by now Justin was back on Karai's hip and staring at the balloons and streamers that decorated the main room in wonder.

Karai smiled as she watched her son's reaction to the party before she set him down. He instantly took off, speeding towards Leo and he nearly fell down upon bumping into the oldest turtle's leg. Leo chuckled and helped the boy back up.

"Happy birthday buddy," he said.

The party wasn't much, just the Hamato's, O'Neil's, and Casey's dad and sister. They had gotten the boy a few little presents; mostly clothes which considering he's been wearing primarily Casey old stuff he desperately needed. The pizza was Mikey's favorite part of the party and while the youngest turtle, Angel, and Raph were busy playing video games while Leo hilariously tried to properly teach Justin the correct way to hold his new, foam, swords and the adults were all talking, Karai, April, and Casey snuck into the kitchen to get the cake ready.

"Wow Mikey actually made a real cake, I was afraid he was going to make more that algae and worms stuff with the mystery frosting." Casey commented, remembering Karai's birthday last week.

"That's why I made this one. He just frosted it, with the frosting I bought." Karai explained; after her birthday there was no chance she was leaving her little brother in charge of Justin's cake. She could force down most of Mikey's cooking, and half of it isn't that bad, but she draws the line at worm cakes.

"Here's the candles," April announced, tossing the box to Casey. "I'm going to tell them it's time for cake." She continued before leaving the couple alone in the kitchen.

"Can you believe it?" Casey asked as he opened the box and set the candles in the cake while Karai fumbled around the drawers for a match. "I mean six months ago you and me had barely said two words to each other," he continued.

"And now we're together with our son turning two." Karai finished as she located a box of matches. "Cause that makes sense," she continued.

"Nothing in our lives ever makes sense," Casey pointed out.

"That's not true, last I checked we made perfect sense." She said and Casey smirked before giving her a quick kiss.

"Touché."

* * *

Later that night as Karai was putting Justin to bed he just didn't want to go to sleep, definitely spending too much time with Mikey. Since no one else was in the room and the walls are relatively soundproof she gave up all other methods and tried singing to him, which actually seemed to work as she laid him in his crib.

"Did you have a good birthday?" She asked him and he seemed to give her a murmured 'yes' in response, but she couldn't quite tell.

She stood over the crib for a little while, just gently playing with her baby's hair. He didn't seem to mind it. Casey asked her earlier if she could believe it, and honestly she couldn't. Six months ago she had been Shredder's assassin, six months ago she had discovered she was lied to. Six months ago, even with her father and brothers, she felt alone in the world. Six months ago Justin wasn't here, and she hardly knew Casey at all. But so much has changed since then. She's no longer alone. Not only is she more comfortable around her brothers and her father, but she's made friends with April and given her heart to two very special boys.

 _God that sounds corny,_ the kunoichi mused to herself, but corny as it is it's true.

She loves Casey, and Justin is her son. Six months ago she told Mikey that the baby they found in the cage had no mother, but boy was she wrong. He did have a mother, he has her, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! I just want to say thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing this story! This was a rewrite of my first story, a story i had been so excited to write. But the original was kind of a flop and so when i decided to rewrite it i wasn't too sure how well it would come out, so glad to see that was a good** **decision! I never could've dreamed that this story would be as successful as it was and i really am glad i decided to do this! Thank you so much for reading and for the great reviews, they really have meant the world to me!** **Also, on a side note, I'm considering writing a sequel for this set a couple years in the future, please let me know what you guys think of that idea!**


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